Conventional fire assay analysis is not just costly but also laborious and environmentally damaging. The ARL iSpark™ Plus Fire Assay Analyzer from Thermo Scientific™ is an easy and clean alternative to the conventional cupellation and analysis stages. This is because it employs spark optical emission spectrometry (OES) to find out the concentrations of precious metals directly in lead buttons.
Users can realize concurrent quantitative determination of the content of all precious metals in fire assay lead buttons within a minute. The ARL iSpark™ Plus Fire Assay Analyzer is a best-in-class spark optical emission spectrometer that has been tuned particularly for the analysis of lead buttons.
Product Overview
The ARL iSpark™ Plus Fire Assay Analyzer is appropriate for analyzing several kinds of samples in platinum and gold mining (metal accounting, exploration and mining, and plant control), precious metals industries, contract laboratories and metal recycling.

Image credit: Thermo Scientific - Elemental Analysis
The 1 m focal length Paschen-Runge optics fitted with high-performance photo-multiplying tubes (PMTs) and the most sophisticated technologies offer the analyzer the limits of detection that enable optimally measuring trace contents of gold, silver and platinum group elements in lead buttons.
- Matchless hardware for reliability and stability
- Operators need only minimal training
- Remarkable performance in detection limits, accuracy, precision, and stability, with the least analysis time
- Adaptable to automatic fire assay laboratories
- Viable automation of sample preparation and handling, thereby guaranteeing high reliability and throughput of the analyses
- Factory calibrated to enable simple and quick installation and commissioning
- Time Resolved Spectroscopy (TRS) system: users can set the proper time window for data acquisition when the signal-to-noise ratio is the most advantageous, thereby improving accuracy and sensitivity for trace analysis
- Current Controlled Source (CCS) offers the flexibility to choose all parameters of the spark discharge: generation of very low currents ensures outstanding reproducibility, highest sensitivity and small dimensions on the restricted size fire assay buttons
- Paschen-Runge vacuum polychromator comes with a focal length of 1 m, thereby enabling excellent resolution.
- Argon-flushed, water-cooled table available with self-contained, closed-loop coolant system
- Unique cast iron cabinet, temperature controlled to ±0.1 °C at 38 °C
- Comes with adaptable and robust Thermo Scientific™ OXSAS™ Analytical Software

Image credit: Thermo Scientific - Elemental Analysis