The task of the Czech Geological Survey, established in 1919, is to provide the state geological service for the Czech Republic and to perform research in geosciences and related scientific disciplines. The Czech Geological Survey (formerly Czech Geological Institute) has the statutory responsibility to gather, store and interpret geological information so that the state administration can take appropriate decisions about national economic and environmental issues. Laboratory of X-ray Diffraction of the Czech Geological Survey has long history and todays it is a part of a Department of Rock Geochemistry.
Laboratory is equipped by two powder diffractometers Philips XPert and Bruker D8 Advance. The latter is equipped with Cu and Co X-ray tubes, Lynx Eye-XE detector, motorized XYZ translation stage, option of automatic loading of samples (Fllip-Stick for 9 samples) and parabolic Göbel mirror for Cu radiation. Mill McCrone is used for standard milling of powder samples. Part of the Laboratory is a workshop for separation of clay fraction (fraction below 2 μm), preparation of oriented specimen and subsequent specific treatment of prepared specimens. The main activities of the Laboratory can be divided in three groups:
1) The routine (quantitative) phase analysis of various samples including rocks, drill cores, separated minerals, heavy mineral concentrates, synthetic products.
2) Separation and subsequent mineralogical analysis of clay fraction
3) Refinement and solution of crystal structures of minerals and synthetic phases containing platinum-group elements (in collaboration with Institute of Physics, Prague)