A study on the use of slurries in flame atomic absorption spectrometry is reported. Samples with a very high silica content are ground and then slurried in a solution containing 2% hydrochloric and 3% v/v hydrofluoric acids. The suspensions are prepared in the 0.01-1% m/v range and introduced into the flame by means of a simple flow injection manifold. Relative standard deviations for the measurements of iron, calcium and magnesium in diatomaceous earth samples are in the 1.5-2.8, 2.2-5.3 and 2.8-5.0% ranges, respectively. To avoid the use of suspensions prepared with a very low percentage of solid sample and to improve the reproducibility, an on-line dilution manifold is tried. The use of an easy-to-construct variable volume dilution chamber allows the on-line dilution of the slurries, thus permitting the determination of calcium and magnesium over a wide range of concentrations. Calibration is performed using aqueous standards. The experimental conditions, optimized for the determination of iron, calcium and magnesium in diatomaceous earth samples, can also be applied to other silica-based materials, as is shown by the analysis of several standard reference materials.