Development of rapid high-efficiency photoactivation method for determination of gold in ore powder samples

The utilization of bremsstrahlung of the LUE-15-1.5 and LUE-8.5 linear electron accelerators is described. Gold and tungsten targets 5 mm thick were used to obtain the bremsstrahlung in both accelerators. The samples were placed in special cells. The weight of the samples was 20-150 g and the gold concentration in the samples was 0.8-100 g/t. Approximately 450 irradiation cycles and measurements of samples of gold-bearing ores were performed. In the 0.9-4 g/t concentration range the deviation from the mean value was less than or equal to 10-15% and at higher concentrations less than 5%. A systematic procedure for the photoactivation determination of gold was developed. (author)