The Power of Micro-XRF in Gemology – Part 6: Verifying Copper in a Small Paraiba Tourmaline Gemstone

Tourmalines, one of the birthstones for October, have a wide variety of colors and compositions. Paraiba tourmaline is one of the most famous and precious tourmalines for their vivid hues, higher color saturation and greater rarity. Elemental analysis using an analytical instrument is important to identify Paraíba tourmaline by verifying the presence of copper inside. In this application note, we introduce HORIBA's XGT-9000 micro-XRF analyzer, as a non-destructive elemental analysis technique for copper verification in a small Paraiba tourmaline gemstone.