Determination of mercury in rocks and minerals by the Faraday effect

Abstract

A method for the determination of mercury in rocks and minerals has been developed based on the atomic Faraday effect in conjunction with hydride generation. The use of an amalgamation process, dramatically increased the sensitivity of the determination giving a detection limit of 5 × 10^–11 g. In order to increase the magnetic field strength, a pulsed power supply was used to drive the solenoids. Some design parameters of the apparatus are discussed.