Elemental analysis of selected Indian monazite ores by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence /EDXRF/ spectroscopy

Analysis by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence spectroscopy of monazite ores from Kerala /Chavara and Manavalakurichi/, Orissa /Chattrapur/ and Tamil Nadu /Tirunelveli/ has been carried out for the determination of their elemental composition using¹⁰⁹Cd /annular/ and²⁴¹Am /disc/ radioisotope sources. The elements Y, Zr, Mo, Pb, Th and U were analyzed using a¹⁰⁹Cd source, and the elements La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd and Dy were analyzed using the²⁴¹Am source in side source geometry. Quntitative results on these 13 elements present in these ores were obtained by the EDXRF technique. It was seen that despite the diverse geological settings, there is remarkable similarity in the elemental composition of these ores, although some trace elements do show certain variations from sample to sample. These results are presented and discussed in this paper.