Search for technetium in natural tin metallurgical residues

Possible instability of baryons inside the nuclei might result in accumulation of rare isotopes in natural ores. In this respect, isotopes of technetium have certain advantages that can be useful in the search for technetium in nonradioactive ores by chemical methods. In this paper, we review the history of technetium research and discuss a new approach to the search for natural technetium associated with tin ores which appears to offer a rare possibility of discovering a smelting operation by-product such as flue dust, in which the volatile technetium heptoxide (Tc{sub 2}O{sub 7}), like rhenium heptoxide (Re{sub 2}O{sub 7}), would be expected to concentrate. Our concept of a search for technetium in these materials would be based on the assumption that traces of rhenium could occur in the ore and could be traced most easily by neutron activation of small samples. Such a procedure would confirm that an enrichment from the ore to the flue dust actually occurs with the rhenium and therefore should occur with technetium. Furthermore, this occurrence should identify the best location to search for technetium.