Suitability of nitric-sulphuric acid decomposition for the determination of tungsten and molybdenum in geochemical exploration.

A mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids is used for the decomposition of geochemical samples for the estimation of tungsten. In the resulting sample solution tungsten is determined colorimetrically by the dithiol method. The decomposition procedure suggested works well for scheelite mineral. However wolframite is only partially decomposed. The same sample solution is used for estimation of molybdenum by the thiocyanate method. The method is suitable for batch analysis and results in a high throughput.