Determination of rare earth elements in Co-rich crusts by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A method for the determination of rare earth elements in Co-rich crusts was built,using high pressure acid digestion(HF+HNO3) with an internal standard of Rh by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS).The replicate determinations of three Chinese national reference materials of Co-rich crusts(GSMC-1、GSMC-2、GSMC-3) show that measured values of the rare earth elements are consistent with the reference values with relative standard deviations(RSD,n=5) of 0.36%~4.0%.The spike recoveries range between 90% and 106%.Based on this method,six Co-rich crust samples were measured and the results shows similar distribution patters with rare earth elements in the reference materials.This method is suitable for the analysis of a batch of the Co-rich crust samples.