The determination of the Fe content in natural sphalerites by means of Raman spectroscopy

Natural sphalerite samples collected from the Baia Sprie ore deposit (Romania) were analyzed through Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDX and XRD. The most intense Raman lines at 300, 331 and 350 cm−1 were used to improve iron determination method from sphalerites by Raman spectroscopy. It is well known that the iron content of synthetic sphalerite can be quantified by measuring the height of Raman lines (h1, h3). By using the new h2/h3 and (h1 + h2)/h3 ratios and two additional linear equations, this method is improved and becomes suitable to natural sphalerites. The results are in good agreement with the SEM-EDX data.