Jewelers, recyclers, and refiners of precious metals and alloys require elemental analytical capabilities that fit their challenging business conditions. Affordability is always key. Small operators have comparatively little cash for equipment. Larger companies and organizations face constant pressure to keep costs low and profits high. However, affordability must still buy good performance. For purchase and sales, percentages of gold, silver, and other precious metal alloys must be determined quickly and accurately.
For precious metals analysis, such as jewelry or dental alloys, fast and non-destructive XRF spectrometers which require little sample preparation are most frequently used for analysis, e.g. SPECTRO XEPOS, SPECTRO MIDEX, SPECTROCUBE, SPECTROSCOUT and SPECTRO xSORT.
But also high-performance arc/spark (SPECTROLAB) and ICP optical emission spectrometers (SPECTRO ARCOS) offer revolutionary advantages for the precious metal market — including ultra-low limits of detection, ultra-high speed of measurement, spectacular stability, and ultimate elemental flexibility.
With LODs in the ppb-ppm range, ICP-OES is particularly suitable for the analysis of pure precious metals. But also for the analysis of major components, using the bracketing technique, ICP-OES achieves highest precision. The technique can be easily automated. High analyses sample throughput and unattended operation can thus be easily realized.