Journal Highlight: Trace element analysis of rough diamond by LA-ICP-MS: A case of source discrimination?

Trace element analysis of rough diamond by LA-ICP-MS: A case of source discrimination?

Journal of Forensic Sciences 2010, 55, 1443-1456
Claude Dalpe, Pierre Hudon, David J. Ballantyne, Darrell Williams, Denis Marcotte

Abstract: Current profiling of rough diamond source is performed using different physical and/or morphological techniques that require strong knowledge and experience in the field. More recently, chemical impurities have been used to discriminate diamond source and with the advance of laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) empirical profiling of rough diamonds is possible to some extent. In this study, we present a LA-ICP-MS methodology that we developed for analyzing ultra-trace element impurities in rough diamond for origin determination ("profiling"). Diamonds from two sources were analyzed by LA-ICP-MS and were statistically classified by accepted methods. For the two diamond populations analyzed in this study, binomial logistic regression produced a better overall correct classification than linear discriminant analysis. The results suggest that an anticipated matrix match reference material would improve the robustness of our methodology for forensic applications.

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