Multielemental inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry analysis of nickeliferous minerals.

An inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry method for the quantitative simultaneous determination of Al, Ca, Co, Cu, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P and Zn in Cuban laterite and serpentine minerals has been developed. Additionally, V and Ti can be quantitatively determined in laterite mineral; Li, Sr, and Zr can be detected in both mineral types and Pb can be detected just in laterite mineral. The microwave-assisted total acid digestion of samples was achieved with HCl+HNO3+HF and HNO3+HClO4+HF acid mixtures for laterite and serpentine samples, respectively.