FEI Unveils New Capabilities for Natural Resource Extraction

Automated Mineralogy Technology Suite Now Provides Improved Measurement and Image Analysis Capabilities for Mining, Oil & Gas and Geoscience Applications

HILLSBORO, Ore., Sep 1, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) — FEI Company (Nasdaq:FEIC), a leading instrumentation company providing electron microscope systems for applications across many industries, announces the availability of two new software solutions that provide quantifiable data to improve natural resource extraction. In addition, FEI announces that its popular QEMSCAN(R) software is now available on the Quanta(TM) 650 scanning electron microscope (SEM) platform. The new software upgrades are part of FEI’s automated mineralogy technology suite, a high throughput analysis solution that provides quantitative mineralogical data on a wide range of geological samples. In mining, this data enables engineers to optimize mineral processing and mine planning. In oil & gas exploration, the data enables geologists to develop improved reservoir models. In both market segments, these solutions reduce uncertainty in operational decisions, increasing the likelihood of more successful exploration and more efficient production.

“These powerful new solutions demonstrate FEI’s commitment to improving the speed, user experience, and utility of the MLA and QEMSCAN solutions, following our acquisition of Intellection and the MLA business of JKTech in 2009,” said Paul Scagnetti, FEI’s Industry Market Division vice president and general manager. “These application-specific software solutions were developed at FEI’s Center of Excellence for Natural Resources in Brisbane, Australia, working closely with our customers.”

The software solutions being launched today include:

MLA v3.0–The Mineral Liberation Analyzer (MLA) measurement and analysis suite has been completely revised with the launch of version 3.0. The user interface is enhanced, with flexibility in processing of particle images and extraction of quantitative mineralogical data. A completely new and integrated data management system has also been introduced, as well as simplified measurement set-up and mineral standards management protocols.

iDiscover(TM) v5.0–This is the latest upgrade to the QEMSCAN software suite, and includes a revolutionary automated mineral identification algorithm. Customers can now directly identify more than twice as many elements, which enables more subtle discrimination of complex mineral compositions.

Also, for the first time, QEMSCAN is available on the FEI Quanta 650 SEM platform. The new QEMSCAN product has enhanced image quality and significantly faster X-ray acquisition throughput than previous QEMSCAN products.

For more information, please visit www.fei.com/applications/industry/

About FEI

FEI (Nasdaq:FEIC) is a leading diversified scientific instruments company. It is a premier provider of electron- and ion-beam microscopes and tools for nanoscale applications across many industries: industrial and academic materials research, life sciences, semiconductors, data storage, natural resources and more. With more than 60 years of technological innovation and leadership, FEI has set the performance standard in transmission electron microscopes (TEM), scanning electron microscopes (SEM) and DualBeams(TM), which combine a SEM with a focused ion beam (FIB). FEI’s imaging systems provide 3D characterization, analysis and modification/prototyping with resolutions down to the sub-Angstrom (one-tenth of a nanometer) level. FEI’s NanoPorts in North America, Europe and Asia provide centers of technical excellence where its world-class community of customers and specialists collaborate. FEI has approximately 1800 employees and sales and service operations in more than 50 countries around the world. More information can be found at: www.fei.com

FEI Safe Harbor Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements that include statements regarding the performance capabilities and benefits of the Mineral Liberation Analyzer (MLA) and QEMSCAN technologies. Factors that could affect these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to failure of the product or technology to perform as expected and achieve anticipated results, unexpected technology problems and our ability to manufacture, ship and deliver the tools or software as expected. Please also refer to our Form 10-K, Forms 10-Q, Forms 8-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information on these factors and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. FEI assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: FEI Company

www.fei.com