Improvement of express-control in copper production using radioisotope X-ray fluorescence method

The possibilities of the radioisotope X-ray fluorescence method for copper analysis in ores in the presence of iron are investigated. The 241Am source with 3.7 108 s-1 (10 mCurie) activity with a secondary cadmium target was used as an excitation source of the characteristic X-rays of copper and iron. The spectra were recorded with a Si(Li) semiconductor detector with an energy resolution of 0.280 keV for a 5.9 keV line in iron-55. For elimination of the matrix effect, the reference background method using incoherent cadmium K-line radiation was applied. Analyzing time is several minutes. Absolute mean-square error of the method is of an order of 0.1-0.5