Determination of Trace Rhenium in Sandstone-type Uranium Deposits by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry with Magnesium Oxide Sintering

The average content of uranium in sandstone-type uranium deposits is 635 μg/g, whereas the content of rhenium is 0.3-1.9 μg/g. Because of low rhenium content, now precise determination of low Re in high U ores remains unresolved. In this study, a method for the determination of trace Re in sandstone-type uranium deposits by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry was developed. Samples were digested by MgO sintering, and were then extracted by hot water. ¹⁰³Rh was used as the internal standard element to eliminate the interferences of uranium, molybdenum and other matrix elements on Re. Under optimum conditions, the detection limit of trace rhenium is 0.12 ng/g, and the recovery is 99.8%. The method was validated by a variety of standard samples, the measured Re contents are in good agreement with the standard values. The relative standard deviation (RSD) is less than 1.5% for Re contents of 0.06-180.57 μg/g, which meets the requirement of determining trace Re in high U ores from sandstone type uranium deposits.