Determination of rhenium and osmium by ICP-MS for galena and sphalerite

Digestion with aqua regia in a Carius tube and separation of Re with anion exchange resin is commonly employed for Re–Os dating of molybdenite and pyrite. However, the recovery of Re is extremely low when this routine anion exchange method is applied to galena, causing difficulty in Re–Os dating of galena. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of Re loss during sample preparation and tested a revised procedure for Re–Os dating of galena and sphalerite.