Mineral Optics Laboratory

29  “A”   Street      P.O. Box 828

Wilder, Vermont,   05088  USA

TEL    802-295-9373   E-mail:

We are the preferred vendor for scientists who demand excellence in the preparation of their valuable samples.

 

The skill of your petrographer and quality of  your sections will affect the outcome of your analysis.

 

We recognize the great expense incurred in recovering drill core and surface samples from remote or inaccessible locations around the globe. Other testing and analysis may add more value and importance to each sample.

Lesser quality thin sections often prove inadequate and can delay your project, cause critical features to be omitted or overlooked, and will expend valuable material.

 

We provide Precision and Craftsmanship during every stage of the thin sectioning process.

 

Vacuum & Pressure Impregnating ensures presentation quality results.

Seals fractures and porosity from abrasive contamination.

Eliminates air bubbles in pores and fractures.

Prevents outgassing under vacuum.

Stabilizes fragile microstructure.

This is an essential first step in the preparation of the highest quality thin sections.

Available in Clear, Blue or Fluorescent.

 

Cutting: We take great care to ensure that the area you are interested in is included on the slide. When cutting a block from a bulk sample we maximize the area to cover the entire slide leaving a 1mm border. Friable samples will be vacuum impregnated before cutting the block to final size. All delicate veins and surfaces are preserved. All scraps are labeled, packaged and returned. Chain of custody documented.

 

Flatness:. All thin sections will be 30 microns over the entire surface and none will have edges or corners ground too thin. This ensures that important features such as coatings on concrete or mineralized veins that often occur on the edges of a chip are preserved. A border of glue surrounding the chip prevents minerals from spalling during lapping and polishing and is characteristic of fine quality thin sections.

 

Polish: Minimal relief between hard and soft phases.

Sharp grain boundaries reveal the most minute phases.

Sections are polished completely and uniformly over the entire section.

Sections are inspected constantly with reflected light microscopes during  the polishing process.

We have unmatched experience in the art of polishing rock for microscopic and electron beam analysis.

 

Personal Service: The highest quality petrographic sample preparation is our only business, not a sideline.

Owner in lab inspects every sample. We have been in business for 22 years.