Abstract：The appearance of dead burnt magnesite was very similar to kaolin, dolomite and wollastonite ores, so it was usually mixed into these minerals for abroad smuggling. In order to fast identify the dead burnt magnesite in these minerals, the Fourier transform infrared spectrum technology was used to study the spectral signature of three minerals containing various contents of dead burnt magnesite. Then, the spectra were compared with those of dead burnt magnesite and minerals without dead burnt magnesite. The results showed that, when certain amount of dead burnt magnesite was mixed into these minerals, the infrared characteristic absorption peak of dead burnt magnesite still existed. When the content of dead burnt magnesite was 10%, it could be also identified based on the change of characteristic spectrum. In other words, the detection limit of dead burnt magnesite in these minerals was 10%. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of actual samples and the results were consistent with the chemical method.
