Isotope source neutron activation for the accurate analysis of kilogram samples of ores and rocks

The method of isotope source neutron activation has been developed and applied to the analysis of large samples with a volume of approximately one litre. The use of such a large sample size has the great advantage of increasing the sensitivity and reducing the necessity for elaborate sampling procedures and it has many applications in process control. This method has been applied to the analysis of fluorine in fluorspar and of manganese ore. In the former there is a minimum of self-absorption while in the latter there is a large self-absorption effect. Accurate and reproducible results were obtained in both cases but in the second case the self-absorption had to be taken into account. In particular, separate absorption measurements were necessary for certain manganese ores which contain other strongly absorbing constituents. (author)