Overview
ISO/TR 18336:2016 - Guidelines for good XRF laboratory practice for the iron ore industry provides recommended quality‑control procedures for XRF (X‑ray fluorescence) laboratories analysing iron ores. The Technical Report is written for high‑throughput iron‑ore labs but is adaptable to other laboratory scales. It covers reagent control, fused‑glass bead preparation, spectrometer checks, QC sampling and data‑management practices to ensure reliable XRF results in routine production environments.
Key topics and requirements
- Reagents and fusion flux control
- Purchase traceable reagents (batch numbers, certificates of analysis) and record usage.
- Test new flux batches against certified batches to assess contamination and homogeneity; amend calibrations only with documented evidence.
- Apparatus and bead preparation
- Regular maintenance and inspections of balances, fusion furnaces, moulds and drying equipment.
- Specific attention to fused‑glass bead quality: storage, disc‑making precision, bead curvature/flatness.
- Spectrometer performance and monitoring
- Routine shift and weekly checks (detector/gas flows, chilled water, error logs).
- Precision and linearity testing (required for instrument validation), with defined short‑term stability expectations.
- Use of monitors for drift correction and procedures for when stability limits are exceeded.
- Quality control program
- Selection and frequency of QC samples (shift start, periodic synthetic standards, proficiency testing).
- Use of control charts, synthetic calibration standards (SynCals) and participation in external proficiency test programs.
- Documentation and traceability
- Maintain records of reagent batches, calibration changes, QC results and corrective actions.
- Supporting procedures
- Annexes provide practical methods (disc precision tests, flux ignition loss, bead measurement, drift correction and example spreadsheets).
Applications and users
- Intended users: XRF laboratory managers, QA/QC personnel, laboratory technicians, mineral analysis consultants and instrument manufacturers servicing the iron‑ore sector.
- Practical uses:
- Establishing robust day‑to‑day QC for high‑throughput iron‑ore analysis.
- Implementing bead‑making best practices to reduce sample bias and improve reproducibility.
- Meeting internal and external audit expectations for calibration, traceability and performance monitoring.
Related standards
Keywords: ISO/TR 18336:2016, XRF laboratory practice, iron ore industry, fused glass beads, fusion flux, spectrometer precision, quality control, calibration, proficiency testing.