Abstract
The determination of trace elements, particularly rare earth elements, in uranium ore concentrates (UOCs) is important as the pattern can be indictive ore characteristics. Presented here is a methodology for accurately quantifying rare earth elements (REE) in UOCs. To improve the measurement uncertainty, isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) was utilized over other quantification techniques such as external calibration or standard addition. The isotopic determinations were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). To obtain high-fidelity isotopic measurements, separation of the REE from the uranium matrix was achieved by high-performance ion chromatography (HPIC), reducing the isobaric interferences. After separation, the target analytes were analyzed in two different modalities. For high precision analysis, the separated analytes were collected and measured by ICP-MS in an “offline” fashion. For a rapid approach, the separated analytes were sent directly into an ICP-MS for “online” analysis. These methods have been demonstrated to accurately quantify the REE content in a well-characterized UOC sample.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 55 |
Journal | Minerals |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2020 |
Funding
Funding: This work was supported by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-000R22725. This research was also supposed in part by an appointment to the HERE program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Conflicts of Interest: This manuscript has been authored in part by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).
Keywords
- ICP-MS
- Ion chromatography
- Isotope dilution mass spectrometry
- Uranium ore concentrate