Despite the promise of hXRF technology for use in field geologic investigations, this technology should still be regarded as a work in progress. Possible beneficial technological advances include an expansion of the number of elements that can be analyzed, beyond the four of ten elements (Si, Ca, Ti, and K) in a standard whole-rock analysis that today can give the most reliable results, as well as increases in detection limits and improvements in analytical precision. Sodium, for example, is too light to precisely measure with current hXRF instrumentation, and our data demonstrate that it is difficult to reliably measure Mg, a key element in classifying basalts. Commercial manufacturers of hXRF instruments are refining their products and we anticipate that future instrument development iterations will be guided by the needs and operational experiences of an expanding scientific user base. In addition to challenges with analyzing lighter element, commercial hXRF models have other characteristics that limit their immediate utility to field geologists. As discussed above, they are calibrated using materials not relevant to geologists. Additionally, their user interfaces are not designed for specific use in field geology, meaning that it can be difficult to very rapidly interpret geochemical data in the field. Our team is currently working on developing new technologies for in situ geochemical analysis to mitigate some of these issues that arise with buying commercially available units. Future work will center on these challenges and attempt to mitigate them through new and emerging technology.