Determination of small quantities of xanthate.
A new spectrophotometric method for the determination of very small amounts of xanthate in solutions, particularly cyanide solutions from gold-extraction plants, is described. It is based on the formation and extraction of copper(II) xanthate. The coefficient of variation is 1.0% at the 40-ppm level and 3.4% at the 4-ppm level and the lower limit of determination is approximately 0.5 ppm. Copper(II) xanthate normally decomposes into copper(I) xanthate and dixanthogen, but in the proposed method the decomposition is delayed.
Pohlandt
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National Institute for Metallurgy, Private Bag 6, Cottesloe, South Africa.
Cook
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Steele
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