Determination of precious metal concentrations in a polymetallic nodule reference sample from the Indian Ocean by ICP-MS

A polymetallic nodule reference sample (No. 2388) collected from the Indian Ocean, and seven other samples, two from the United States Geological Survey, USA (Nod-A-1 and Nod-P-1), three from Russia (OOPE 601, OOPE 602, and OOPE 603), and two from China (GSPN-2 and GSPN-3), collected from different locations, are available for calibration purposes and as control samples in the analytical programs for polymetallic nodules and associated sediments to ensure accurate measurements. They are not certified for precious metal concentrations, however, and the data available are very scanty. An attempt has been made to provide working values for platinum, palladium, gold, and silver and indicative values for osmium, iridium, and ruthenium in these eight ferromanganese nodule reference samples, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). To assess the accuracy of the method, certified reference material, WPR-2, WMS-1, WMG-1, and WGB-1 Canadian Certified Materials Project (CCRMP, Canada) were analyzed, and the data obtained were compared with the certified values. The estimate of analytical reproducibility was found to be better than +/- 15% RSD for most elements with comparable accuracy. The data presented for this set of manganese nodule reference samples may be useful in geochemical studies of manganese nodules and associated sediments.