The use of neutron activation analysis in gold prospecting in small-scale mining in Ghana

A set of rock and soil samples from Dome Beposo in the Amansie-West district of Ashanti Region of Ghana, suspected to contain gold, have been analyzed using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) coupled with conventional counting techniques. The identification and quantification of the elements, gold, arsenic, mercury and antimony were done using 411.8 keV photopeak of 198 Au, 559.1 keV photopeak of 76 As, 77.3 keV photopeak of 197 Hg and 564.2 keV photopeak of 122 Sb. The precision and accuracy of the method were evaluated using standard reference materials. The precision and bias was found to be less than 6%. The first set of samples consists of ten rocks (GS), four of which retain moderate to quite high concentrations of gold, 0.27±0.01 mg/kg, 1.58±0.09 mg/kg, 7.51±0.44 mg/kg and 8.06±0.35 mg/kg, respectively. The second set comprises two soil samples taken from the upper and bottom layers of a gold exploration pit. Gold concentrations in upper (UL) and bottom (BL) layers are 0.06±0.002 mg/kg and 0.47±0.02 mg/kg, respectively. Arsenic was found in the soils as well as the rocks, and the levels ranged from 9.3±0.5 to 274±15.6 mg/kg. Mercury and antimony were found in the rocks only. Mercury levels in the rocks ranged between 0.11±0.004 and 9.67±0.42 mg/kg whilst antimony levels ranged from 0.21±0.01 to 6.88±0.38 mg/kg.