Speciation of As(III) and As(V) in some Ghanaian gold tailings by a simple distillation method

As(III) and As(V) in goldtailings and river-bed sediments from Obuasi were determined by distillation of arsenic as AsCl3. Results yielded 3750+/-426 mg kg(-1) (45.2%) for As(V) and 3050+/-66 mg kg(-1) (36.7%) for As(III) in the tailings. In the river-bed sediments, one spot yielded: As(III) 0 mg kg(-1) (0%) and As(V) 1447+/-51 mg kg(-1) (100%), whilst a second spot yielded: As(III) 0 mg kg(-1) (0%) and As(V) 2976+/-51 mg kg(-1) (100%). Using arsenic oxide standards, the recovery of As(III) and As(V) in the trioxide were 94.8 and 0.6% respectively. In a mixture of the two oxides, the recovery of As(III) was 87.6% with practically no interference from As(V). Total As content of the tailings was determined by neutron activation analysis (NAA) to be 8305+/-75 mg kg(-1).