Simultaneous determination of mercury and gold in bismuth by neutron activation analysis

After adding mercury as carrier, trace amounts of mercury and gold were simultaneously separated from bismuth by coprecipitating with sulfur produced by the decomposition of bismuth sulfide. The sulfur was filtered on a membrane filter, and the γ-activities were measured with a Ge(Li) detector. The recoveries were quantitative and the measurement of chemical yield was unnecessary. 123 ppm of mercury and 8 ppb of gold in a bismuth sample were determined simultaneously.