Determination of Gold in Ores by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry with Plastic Foam Absorption

Ore sample, pretreated at 650℃, was decomposed with aqua regia. Au in the sample solution was then preconcentrated by adsorbing with polyurethane foam plastic and released with thiourea solution and determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The detection limit of the method for Au was 0.138 μg/g. The method has been applied to determination of Au in National Standard Reference materials and the results are in agreement with certified values with precision of 6.45%RSD (n=12). The method provides the advantages of higher stability, higher accuracy and more efficiency compared with atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS).