Improvement of metrological characteristics of a new industrial facility for gold-bearing ore gamma activation analysis

The results of the development and research of the characteristics of a new gamma activation analysis (GAA) facility, created for the quantitative analysis of gold-bearing ores in real conditions of a gold-mining enterprise, are presented. The values of the gold detection limit (3σ), measured from the spectra of certified reference samples with an ultralow background level, were 0.025–0.028 ppm with a single irradiation. In this case, the root-mean-square measurement error for a gold concentration of 1 ppm did not exceed 8% and 4% for a concentration of 10 ppm. The GAA facility provides the analysis of coarse-ground samples (1–3 mm) with a capacity of at least 65 samples per hour. •The new GAA facility design allows its disassembling and transporting to another mine in four 40-foot containers.•The values of the gold detection limit, measured with certified ultralow background reference samples were 0.025–0.028 ppm.•The RMS error for a gold concentration measurement of 1 ppm did not exceed 8% and 4% for a concentration of 10 ppm.•The new GAA facility provides an analysis capacity up to 75 samples per hour.