A rapid fire-assay/atomic-absorption method for the determination of platinum, palladium and gold in ores and concentrates: A modification of the tin-collection scheme.

The tin-collection scheme of fire-assaying has been simplified to permit the rapid and accurate determination of platinum, palladium and gold in ores and related materials. The presence of tellurium in the charge ensures that the precious metals remain insoluble during the parting of the tin button with hydrochloric acid. The residue is easily collected and dissolved and the resultant solution analysed for the precious metals by AAS. The accuracy of the method has been established by application to five diverse certified reference materials.