Simultaneous Determination of Cations in Leaching Solution of Uranium Ores by Ion Chromatography

A method for the simultaneous determination of common cations in leaching solution of uranium ores by ion chromatography (IC) is developed. The common inorganic cations and ammonium ion (Li ⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and NH⁺₄) were separated using Ionpac CS12A cation exchange column with 20 mmol/L of methanesulfonic acid (MSA) as eluent. The detection limits for common cations and NH₄₊ were 0.0127~0.194 mg/L. The recoveries of standard addition for these cations were in a range of 91.5%~106.0% with precision of 1.0%~4.5% RSD (n=5). The proposed method is of high practicability in simultaneous determination of common inorganic cations and ammonium ion in the leaching solution of uranium ores.