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7855883 
Journal Article 
Determination of gold in rocks, ores, and other geological materials by atomic absorption techniques 
Ramesh, SL; Raju, PVS; Anjaiah, KV; Mathur, R; Rao, TG; Dasaram, B; Charan, SN; Rao, DVS; Sarma, DS; Mohan, MR; Balaram, V 
2001 
Yes 
Atomic Spectroscopy
ISSN: 0195-5373 
ATOMIC SPECTROSCOPY PRESS LTD 
KWAI CHUNG 
22 
1 
263-269 
English 
WOS:000167842300005 
A method was designed for the determination of gold in geological samples such as rocks, ores, and soils by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) with Zeeman background correction. Ten grams of each sample was decomposed with aqua regia after heating at 650°C. Gold was extracted into methyl iso-butyl ketone (MIBK), which was then analyzed by AAS after removal of the interfering iron from the organic phase. FAAS was used for the determination of gold up to a concentration level of O.1 μg/g. The results obtained by FAAS compared favorably with those obtained by the fire assay and ICP-MS methods. In the lower range of gold concentration, agreement between the values obtained by GFAAS and ICP-MS is also appreciable. For verification of the efficacy of these methods, international gold standard reference materials were utilized. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that reliable results suitable for use in geo-chemical prospecting of gold can be obtained with a sample weight of 10 g, using aqua regia digestion and MIBK extraction, followed by the AAS determination of gold.