The choice of a rational method of concentration of microcomponents of natural waters is one of the main issues in hydrogeochemical prospecting for ore deposits. Practically the most common are several methods of concentration of trace elements: evaporation to dry residue, co-precipitation with cadmium sulfide - the method of the All-Union Institute of Technology and Exploration and the Leningrad Technological Institute and co-precipitation with aluminum hydroxide - the method of the Tomsk Polytechnic Institute. To compare these methods, the geochemical party of the Leningrad Mining Institute in one of the tin-ore mining taiga regions of the Far East from 750 samples were selected 135 for parallel analysis by three methods and about 200 - for control analyses by different methods of concentration ...