Simultaneous Determination of 8 Elemental Components of Fe, Cu, Zn and Pb in Sulfide Ores by ICP-AES with Aqua Regia Digestion

A method is presented in this paper for examining sulphide ores, in order to determine Cu, Pb, Zn, As, Ag, Cd, Hg and Mo within Fe, Cu, Pb and Zn contained in the ores. This method utilizes Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) with aqua regia digestion. The technique for sample dissolution and measuring conditions is also presented. The accuracy and precision of the method were examined by analyzing reference materials GBW07162 (multi-metal lean ore) and GBW07164 (multi-metal ore). The test results indicate that the relative standard deviation (RSD, n=11) of most elemental components is less than 5% and the accuracy (RE) is less than 10% for most elements. The method was validated by different reference materials and the results were in good agreement with the certified values, thereby meeting the requirements of mineral exploitation. The method has the advantage of providing a simple, simultaneous determination of multiple elements, along with having a wide linearity range and low detection limit, especially for the determination of As, Ag and Hg.