FAST-NEUTRON-ACTIVATION ANALYSIS FOR DETERMINATION OF COPPER CONTENT OF LOWER SILESIAN COPPER DEPOSITS

Abstract The feasibility of determining copper in copper ores by means of activation with 14-MeV neutrons has been investigated. In the method the 63 Cu(n, 2n) 62 Cu reaction and a coincidence measurement of the gamma radiation from the annihilation of positrons from the decay of 63 Cu is used. The relative error is of the order of 2%, and the mean time needed for a single determination is of the order of 4 min. The influence of other positron-emitting elements contained in the ore has been studied theoretically; it results in an average overestimate of the copper content of about 0.05 %. The method can be applied with advantage when the demand for analyses is a few hundred per day.