Determination of copper, iron, lead and zinc in complex sulphide materials by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

A procedure has been developed that uses atomic absorption spectrometry to analyse sulphide materials for Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn. The measurements are performed on solutions containing ammonium acetate, which is used to dissolve lead sulphate formed by oxidation during decomposition of the samples in the presence of nitric acid. To avoid calibration errors it is necessary to use standard Fe solutions that contain sulphate, prepared from sulphide samples of known Fe content. When more than 0.1%m/m of the metal is present in the sample the relative accuracy of the analysis is within ±2%.