Determination of uranium in minerals by laser fluorimetry

Abstract

The construction and performance of a laser fluorimeter for the determination of micro-amounts of uranium are described. The quenching effect of a series of cations, namely Fe^III, Co^II, Ni^II, Mn^II, Cr^III, Cr^VI, Cu^II, Mg^II, Ca^II, Ba^II, Na^I and K^I was investigated, including the compensation for these interferences by the use of an internal uranium standard. An improved method for the direct determination of acid extractable and total uranium in minerals is described together with its application to the determination of minute amounts of uranium in some reference minerals. The results are compared with those obtained by conventional fluorimetry.