Replication Data for: Application of combined Laser Ablation and TXRF methods for columbite-tantalite analysis from Aguamena, Venezuela

Columbite-tantalite (Coltan) samples from Venezuela have been studied by the new procedures of Vacuum Deposition Laser Ablation (VD-LA), Liquid-Phase Laser Ablation (LP-LA), and by direct irradiation of finely pulverized material deposited as a liquid suspension coupled with Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF). With VD-LA, the beam from pulsed third harmonic Nd:YAG laser pulses impinges directly on the face of the mineral sample in vacuum, depositing the ablated material on TXRF sample carriers. With LP-LA, mineral specimens were placed under distilled de-ionized water in a quartz cell and subjected to pulsed laser ablation. The nanoparticle suspension produced was analyzed by TXRF. Products were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy, showing that liquid-phase ablated material forms spherical nanoparticles, with the composition close to the bulk concentration of the ablated products. The results of contained radioactivity, as well as the TXRF analysis, show the existence of significant variability in the composition of mineral specimens obtained from the Aguamena area in Venezuela. IMPORTANT NOTE: Version 1.0 contains incorrect or incomplete files. Please use Version 2.0 for all analyses and citations, as it contains the corrected dataset.