In situ analysis of precious metals in polished mineral samples and sulphido "standards" by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at concentrations of parts-per-billion

Details In situ analysis of precious metals in polished mineral samples and sulphido "standards" by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at concentrations of parts-per-billion In situ analysis of precious metals in polished mineral samples and sulphido "standards" by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at concentrations of parts-per-billion

Aug 1991

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991gecoa..55.2241w&link_type=abstract

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol. 55, Issue 8, pp.2241-2251

Computer Science

Scientific paper

This article addresses the analysis of eight precious metals (Au and Ag, plus the six Platinum Group Elements (PGE): Pt, Ir, Os, Ru, Rh, and Pd). The metals are measured in Fe-Ni-(Cu) sulphidos by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS). Samples are analysed in the form of small polished cores, derived from sulphido- and oxide-rich rocks, and from Ni-S-dominated fire assay beads. The chosen analytical strategies are shown to have essentially zero background for Au, Ag, and the PGE, with the notable result that detection limits, like precision, are limited only by the time available for analysis. Sensitivities for monatomic negative ions are in the order Au Ag > Pt Rh > Pd Ir > Ru > Os, with nominal detection limits (quoted on the basis of equal counting times of 100 sec) ranging from 0.1 ppb for Au to <600 ppb for Os. The utility of the method is exemplified in terms of analysis of specific sulphidic precious-metal ores. Although optical and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) studies reveal substantial heterogeneities in the NiS beads, on scales varying from 1 m to 100 m, reproducible results to a precision of < 10% can be obtained because the probing beam of Cs, 500 m in diameter, averages out these inhomogeneities, but still has the spatial resolution to provide grain-by-grain analysis of coarse ore samples. The magnitudes of PGE partition coefficients between the sulphido components of the beads, which await determination with a collimated probing beam, provide a limiting factor in the attainable precision of the results. These samples have become the reference material of choice for precious metal analysis within this laboratory. The technique permits direct measurement of the partitioning of precious metals between coexisting ore minerals, and of PGE patterns within single crystals of such phases as pyrite and chromite.

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