Rapid determination of dysprosium in rock samples by neutron activation analysis with a ge(li) detector after chemical separation

A neutron activation method for the rapid determination of dysprosium in rocks, based on simple chemical separation and γ-spectrometry with a lithiumdrifted germanium detector, is described. The 94.7-keV photopeak of dysprosium-165 (2.3 h half-life) was measured. Several geochemical standard rocks covering a variety of rock types were analyzed. The detection limit was 0.005 μg of dysprosium. A precision of ±4.7% was obtained on 7 separate analyses of a basalt standard rock. The accuracy of the method is discussed.