RE-INVENTING THE LABORATORY FOR THE DIGITAL AGE Hugh de Souza, Alexander Seyfarth, Peta Hughes, SGS MINERALS (North America) November 20 th 2018 Creative Disruption Annual Forum
SGS GROUP GLOBAL LEADER ◼ Verification, inspection and monitoring ◼ Sampling and testing ◼ Risk management PUBLIC COMPANY ◼ Revenue (2017) – CHF 6 349 million ◼ +97,000 people ◼ 9 lines of business ◼ +2400 locations 2
SGS MINERALS SERVICES TESTING FACILITIES ◼ Over 14,000 people in total ◼ Geochemistry labs (site and ◼ Revenues of CHF 684 million (2017) with commercial) AOP 104.6 and a 15.3 % Margin ◼ Coal / Energy (site and commercial) ◼ Trade facilities ◼ Fertilizer labs ◼ Metallurgy facilities ◼ Mineralogy labs ◼ Mine tailings and effluent treatment engineering facilities ◼ Plant design and engineering facilities ◼ Certified reference material manufacturing facility, LQSi 3
SGS MINERALS 2018 4 Laboratory numbers and location actual as per 2018
EVOLUTION OF THE SGS MINERALS GEOCHEMISTRY LABORATORY PORTFOLIO ◼ Large commercial labs ▪ State of the art instrumentation ▪ Wide range of methods ▪ Significant recent investment ◼ On-site labs ▪ Specific methods & equipment ▪ Large global footprint currently ◼ Mobile sample preparation units ▪ Containers can be moved to remote locations for project specific activities 5
CURRENT SAMPLE PROCESSING TRACK Dispatch Preparation Time: 10 days + Analysis + Digestion QC Data Reporting 6
NEW TECHNOLOGIES ◼ Lab technology is always in flux ◼ Key development is the explosion in portable and benchtop analytical technologies over the last decade enabled by smart chips, shrinking components and electronics, funded in part by extra-terrestrial LIBS spectrometer (IVEA) exploration. ◼ Different combinations can be used for optimal ore characterization ◼ Sample requirements range from pulps to reject pFTIR spectrometer (Agilent) material ◼ What we discuss here is how and where portable technology can be most effectively deployed to ensure fit-for-purpose data and why it enables us to re-invent lab service delivery µRaman spectrometer ( J. Jehlička ) 7
KEY FIELD PORTABLE TECHNOLOGIES FOR ON-SITE APPLICATIONS ◼ ◼ Portable or Benchtop XRF Provides elemental data on pulp samples. Automated data reduction ◼ Quant mineralogy on pulps for ◼ FTIR clays & other IR responsive species ◼ Alteration minerals on rejects. ◼ Benchtop NIR Spectra require interpretation and knowledgable spectral geologist ◼ ◼ Hyperspectral & XRF Texture, digital photos, alteration mineralogy, chemistry, geotech core scanners data on core samples 8
OTHER POTENTIAL PORTABLE TECHNOLOGY ◼ X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) ◼ Mineralogy (Semi-quant) on pulp samples for most minerals ◼ Carbon compound ID on ◼ Mid IR diffuse reflectance rejects when preg robbing is an issue ◼ Silicates and carbon ◼ uRaman spectroscopy compound ID ◼ Trace element analysis ◼ LIBS esp light elements such as Li ◼ Automated Mineral ◼ Mineralogy and texture Analyzers (AMICS) 9
ON-SITE CORE SCANNING SYSTEMS • X-ray core logging • Hyperspectral IR core scanners • Lab-at-rig XRF & XRD 10
NEW SAMPLE PROCESSING PARADIGM FAST: Field Analytical Services and Testing Rapid data acquisition from portable device Data acquisition Data Transmission Transmission to SGS cloud Portable Modelling instrumentation Data in small used on pulp or packets to SGS Transfer to reject at on-site cloud for QC and modelling lab or MSPU. High data analytics and software. Update volume, low cost ultimately near model within 24 real time delivery hrs N Eleonore Prospectivity 0-10 10-25 25-35 Drillhole/Trench 35-45 100 m 45-60 New Targets ≥60 11
ANALYTICAL RELIABILITY ◼ Sydney Abbey of the GSC who was a prime mover in developing reference materials once remarked that “ the reliability of a result depends more on who produced it than on how it was done ” (Abbey 1981) ◼ Labs have distilled their experience in producing reliable results, using a variety of instrumental approaches, into QA programs constructed from rigorous standard operation procedures. A critical aspect of this QA is that method limitations are clearly delineated. ◼ This lab expertise is transferred to the portable technologies ◼ Essential that this is coupled with the use of analysts trained in the operation of sometimes sophisticated instruments within a comprehensive health & safety framework. 12
SAMPLE PREPARATION IS 90% TOWARDS A GOOD RESULT… ◼ The sample preparation and management process is the most critical step in the analytical procedure when analyzing geochem materials ◼ For quantitative results we need some sort of prep to ensure a representative sample in a state to give the best analytical response – generally a pulp, but maybe rejects for pNIR 13
QUALITY BY DESIGN AND OPERATIONAL CONSISTENCY ◼ Prep stage: local prep blanks, sizing, sieve analysis; vessel and crusher wear checks ◼ Blanks, QC samples and instrument monitors ▪ In lieu of PTP -> cross check of samples with “ mothership ” lab on a regular basis ◼ LIMS: standardized checks to ensure inter operator / validation consistency (Global procedures e.g. GP21). Validation of data is cloud/remote access based as this requires higher trained personnel ◼ “Localized” training for on -site teams ▪ “ bootcamp ” using videos; hands on and computer aided training as “personnel changes” 14
OVERVIEW – FAST V1: THE TECHNOLOGIES ◼ The following are the three (3) initial technologies we are implementing under FAST V1: ▪ FTIR (Fourier Transform InfraRed) ▪ pXRF (Portable XRF) ▪ XRF core scanning (Minalyzer CS) ◼ Depending on project requirements and stage of development, these technologies will have a different role to play in assisting our clients meet their operating needs, and the FAST packages are developed to reflect these varying needs ◼ Technologies have been chosen after technical and operational vetting for robustness and reliability in field conditions 15
MINERALOGY ON- SITE … FTIR ◼ New Generation of ruggedized and sealed small benchtop FTIR enables use in “non” laboratory environment. ◼ pulp is well suited for “ATR” based analysis which allows the use of quantitative calibration models following along the same lines as pXRF: ▪ Matrix type calibration e.g. Li Ore from Pegmatite's; Bauxites; Soils using traditional quantification approach ▪ Site specific calibrations with local samples traceable to XRD, QEMSCAN (chemometrics based) or classic mineralogy ◼ Instrument have built in “OQ”, “PQ” as developed for the pharmaceutical regulated environment making QC a breeze. ◼ Calibration models are transferrable from unit to unit (even field deployable) yet protected against reverse engineering and tampering … 16 Images courtesy BRUKER
FTIR - APPLICATIONS ◼ Development has occurred in the following mineral-group application areas within SGS Minerals: • Bauxite ▪ Clays • – Phase Mineralogy Identification Total Clay Content • Clay speciation » Inc: Available Al, Reactive Si, Total Al, Total Si & Total Fe ▪ Kaolinite, smectite, illite & chlorite – Production Control • Clay Binding Capacity • Weathering Index/Profile • Brittleness Index ▪ Lithium • Phase Mineralogy Identification • Ore Body Characterisation • Ionic Bonding Capacity • Production Control Diagrams courtesy of Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 271 (2008) 278-291 17
FTIR – THE VALUE ◼ Direct mineralogical identification and quantification ◼ Calibrated to a wide range of mineral and rock types ▪ Identification of proxies /pathfinders for targeting ▪ Correlation between drill holes ◼ Enables clay speciation, without additional preparation steps ◼ Robust, bench-mounted design that is ideal for on-site deployment ◼ Low-cost, rapid-turnaround method that facilitates generation of high- volume data density, for developing robust geological models 18
PORTABLE XRF – THE TECHNOLOGY ◼ SGS has taken existing pXRF technologies and increased the confidence of the data through the application of stringent site-specific calibration and QA/QC protocols ◼ Bruker ( S1 Titan or CTX) and Olympus (Vanta) have facilitated access for SGS to the hardware calibration routine to facilitate this custom calibration: Bruker CTX; Bench-mounted XRF unit, for fully- shielded, production-style analysis Olympus Vanta; Bruker S1 Titan; Hand- held, ‘gun - style’ unit for contact analysis, or for use in a Hand-held ‘gun’ -style unit for contact shielded stand . analysis or for use in shielded stand. 19 Images courtesy of Bruker & Olympus
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