A thermal neutron activation method has been developed for the determination of Cu in Cu–Pb–Zn ores and chalcopyrite ore concentrates using the reaction63Cu(N, )64Cu. The samples were irradiated with thermal neutrons from an241Am–Be neutron source and the annihilation
-radiations of 0.511 MeV were counted on 3
×3
NaI(T1) detector coupled with single channel pulse height analyzer. The method is nondestructive, economical and ideal for bulk analysis of ores with 1–16% Cu.