Determination of scandium, yttrium and lanthanides in silicate rocks and four new canadian iron-formation reference materials by flame atomic-absorption spectrometry with microsample injection

Enhancement of sensitivity by factors of up to 1.5 by use of the microsampling technique, coupled with the advantage of using small samples in small solution volumes, permits rapid flame AAS determination of traces of Sc, Y, Nd, Eu, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm and Yb in ultramafic and most other rocks of low rare-earth content, which would be either impossible or very difficult to analyse by direct aspiration because of the need for much larger sample weights and solution volumes. The rare-earths are separated by a modified ion-exchange or a double calcium oxalate and single hydrous ferric oxide co-precipitation procedure, and ultimately determined in an ethanolic perchlorate solution, buffered with 1% lanthanum, by the flame microsample injection technique, with a nitrous oxide-acetylene flame. The results obtained by this technique for six international reference rocks SY-2 (syenite), BCR-1 (basalt), BHVO-1 (Hawaiian basalt), SCo-1 (cody shale), MAG-1 (marine mud) and STM-1 (syenite) are compared with those obtained previously by the direct aspiration method and with other reported data. Results are given for four new Canadian iron formation reference materials FeR-1 to FeR-4.