Photometric determination of traces of antimony with rhodamine b after sulfide precipitation

A method is described for the colorimetric determination of as little as a few tenths of a part per million of antimony in samples composed primarily of elements of atomic numbers 1–28 (e.g., geo materials).Antimony is isolated by sulfide precipitation in mineral acid medium after reduction of ferric iron with hydroxylamine hydrochloride, with final determination by rhodamine B-benzene extraction. The procedure provides for the presence of gallium, thallium, tungsten and gold.