Rapid determination of thorium in ores : Estimation of trace amounts of thorium in complex minerals and ores

A very rapid method for the estimation, of trace amounts of thorium up to 0.01 per cent. or thereabouts even in complex minerals like ilmenite and columbitetantalite has been described. Thorium is collected in an acid solution with phosphates of zirconium and titanium without prior separation of silica, after decomposition of the mineral with sodium peroxide. Thorium is next collected as fluoride with lanthanum as a carrier, precipitated as thorium iodate in potassium iodate-oxalic acid mixture and finally titrated against 0.01N sodium thiosulphate. Accurate results are obtained within a short time of two working days.