Determination of niobium in rocks by an isotope dilution spectrophotometric method

Rocks and minerals are fused with sodium peroxide in the presence of carrierfree ⁹⁵Nb. The fusion cake is leached with water and the precipitate dissolved in hydrofluoric-sulfuric acid mixture. Niobium is extracted into methyl isobutyl ketone and further purified by ion exchange. The amount of niobium is determined spectrophotometrically with 4-(2-pyridylazo)-resorcinol, and the chemical yield of the separations determined by counting ⁹⁵Nb. This procedure is faster and less sensitive to interferences than previously proposed methods for determining niobium in rocks. The high purity of the separated niobium makes the method applicable to nearly all matrices.