Determination of thorium concentrations and activity ratios in silicate rocks by alpha spectrometry

A detailed radiochemical procedure for alpha spectrometry measurements of thorium concentrations and of 230Th/232Th activity ratios in silicates is presented. The Th behaviour, during each step of the chemical process, was investigated by using a 234Th tracer, which is a gamma-ray emitter. The described chemical processing provides relatively high thorium yields, which varied between 56% and 88%, in the analysis of GB-1 (granite) and BB-1 (basalt) Brazilian geological standards. Also, the application of the established radiochemical method allowed a determination of both Th concentrations and activity ratios with high reproducibility, on the order of 2%. The estimation of the concentration result accuracy is also about 2%, which was calculated by using published data obtained from neutron activation analysis as reference values.