Determination of the platinum – group elements (PGE) and gold (Au) in manganese nodule reference samples by nickel sulfide fire-assay and Te coprecipitation with ICP-MS

Abstract

Platinum group elements (PGE) and Au data in polymetallic oceanic ferromanganese nodule reference samples and crust samples obtained by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), after separation and pre-concentration by nickel sulfide fire-assay and Te coprecipitation, are presented. By optimizing several critical parameters such as flux composition, matrix matching calibration, etc., best experimental conditions were established to develop a method suitable for routine analysis of manganese nodule samples for PGE and Au. Calibrations were performed using international PGE reference materials, WMG-1 and WMS-1. This improved procedure offers extremely low detection limits in the range of 0.004 to 0.016 ng/g. The results obtained in this study for the reference materials compare well with previously published data wherever available. New PGE data are also provided on some international manganese nodule reference materials. The analytical methodology described here can be used for the routine analysis of manganese nodule and crust samples in marine geochemical studies.