Determination of gold in ores by flame and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry using a vanadium chemical modifier

The determination of gold in ores by both flame and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry at different analytical wave-lengths are compared. Vanadyl chloride was shown to be effective as a chemical modifier for determining gold in the presence of heavy metals. A sensitivity of 1 μg l-1 and a detection limit of 1 μg l-1 (or 0.1 μg g-1 in the original sample) were obtained. The best linear range was between 1 and 20 μg l-1 and a characteristic mass of 1 pg was obtained. (author). 30 refs.; 6 figs.; 5 tabs