Direct determination of gallium in bauxite employing ICP OES using the reference element technique for interference elimination

The method proposed was applied for the determination of gallium in five bauxites, having yttrium and scandium as reference element, being that the sample preparation was done employing microwave-assisted digestion. The gallium content in the five samples varied from 19.70 to 100.59 mg Kg− 1. These concentrations are in agreement with the data reported by literature.