Every Assay Validated. Every Resource Estimate Defensible.
Mining and metals companies depend on laboratory data for decisions worth billions. LIMSera delivers automated QAQC, real-time process monitoring, and commercially defensible assay certification from exploration through production.
When Assay Data Is Unreliable, Your Mineral Resource Estimate Is Built On Uncertainty.
A mining operation generates tens of thousands of assay results per year across exploration, grade control, metallurgical test work, and process plant monitoring. The quality of those results determines resource estimates, mine plans, mill feed grades, and smelter settlement calculations. A systematic positive bias in gold assays inflates a resource. A contaminated CRM failure that is not caught before data reaches the geological model corrupts years of drilling investment.
Most mining laboratories still manage QAQC with Excel spreadsheets. CRM performance is checked manually by the geologist — if they remember. Duplicate precision plots are generated monthly, not in real time. Assay results are exported to geological software by emailing CSV files between teams. Referee samples are tracked in shared drives with no formal chain of custody. The risk of undetected data integrity failures at every step is significant.
LIMSera automates every QAQC check, manages the complete assay data chain from drill hole to block model, and provides real-time process plant performance visibility — so every resource estimate and every commercial grade certificate is backed by data you can defend.
Every Testing Domain Across Your Mining And Metals Operation
Pre-configured for exploration, metallurgical test work, process plant, and environmental monitoring across all commodity types.
Exploration & Grade Control
Manage geochemical assay workflows from drill-core logging through multi-element analysis by ICP-MS, ICP-OES, fire assay, and XRF. LIMSera automates QAQC insertion — blanks, certified reference materials, and duplicate pairs — into every sample batch at configurable frequencies. Assay data is validated against CRM acceptance windows before results are released to the geological database. Direct export interfaces push validated data to Surpac, Vulcan, Leapfrog, and Datamine block modelling systems without manual transcription.
The Mining Assay Workflow, End To End
Core Logging
Drill-core samples are registered with collar ID, depth interval, sample type, and geologist attribution. Core photo thumbnails are linked to each sample interval. QAQC samples — blanks, CRMs, and duplicates — are automatically inserted at configured frequencies into the batch sequence.
Sample Preparation
Preparation workflows guide crushing, splitting, pulverising, and sub-sampling with equipment cleaning records between samples. Preparation duplicate pairs are generated automatically. Sample mass, moisture, and preparation method are recorded with full operator attribution at each preparation stage.
Fire Assay & ICP Analysis
Fire assay workflows manage litharge charge, fusion, cupellation, and gravimetric or ICP finish with furnace temperature logging. ICP-OES and ICP-MS sample digestion, instrument calibration, and QC standard analysis are managed with automatic drift correction and detection limit calculations.
Grade Verification
Assay results are validated against QAQC acceptance criteria — blank contamination limits, CRM recovery windows, and field duplicate precision requirements. Batches with QAQC failures are quarantined for investigation before release to the geological database.
Technical Review
Geologists and metallurgists review validated assay data with spatial context — anomalous values are flagged against geological domain expectations. Recovery trends are reviewed for systematic bias. All reviews are electronically signed with timestamp and reviewer attribution.
Assay Certificate Issuance
Assay certificates are generated automatically on approval with full QAQC summary, multi-element results, detection limits, and method references. Results are simultaneously exported to the geological database and block modelling software via direct API integration.
Everything Your Mining Laboratory And Metallurgical Team Needs
QAQC Management System
Automated insertion of field blanks, preparation blanks, certified reference materials, and duplicate pairs at configurable rates. CRM performance tracked against acceptance windows with failure rate trending. Control charts per standard and per laboratory for inter-laboratory comparison.
Assay Certificate & Grade Reports
Auto-generated assay certificates with sample ID, project reference, analytical method, multi-element results, detection limits, and QC summary. Grade control reports assembled for mine planning teams with spatial data linkage.
Mass Balance & Recovery
Plant mass balance reconciliation from laboratory head assay, concentrate, and tailings data. Recovery calculations with statistical validation. Grade-recovery curve generation and locked-cycle experiment data management.
Chain of Custody
Sample chain of custody from field collection through preparation to analysis. Barcode and QR tracking at every transfer point. Tamper detection for referee and umpire samples used in commercial grade determinations.
Spatial & Drill Hole Integration
Sample data linked to collar, survey, and lithology data from the drill-hole database. Validated assay results pushed directly to geological modelling software. Spatial QA checks flag assay values inconsistent with geological domain models.
ISO/IEC 17025 Compliance
Full accreditation infrastructure — immutable audit trail, calibration management, measurement uncertainty budgets, CAPA workflows, proficiency testing records, and document version control. Accreditation-ready from day one.
Referee & Umpire Sample Management
Independent check assay programs with dedicated workflows for referee sample preparation, dispatch to umpire laboratories, result comparison, and dispute resolution procedures aligned with commercial agreements.
Turnaround Time Tracking
TAT management for exploration assay turnaround commitments. Priority sample flagging, real-time progress dashboards, and automated escalation when TAT targets are breached for grade control or resource definition programs.
Proficiency Testing Integration
Participation in AMIS, Geostats, and other mining sector proficiency testing programs. Blind sample receipt, analysis, and result submission workflows with z-score tracking and performance trend analysis per analyte.
Fire Assay Module
Dedicated fire assay workflows for PGE and gold by fusion, cupellation, and gravimetric or ICP finish. Litharge charge calculations, furnace temperature records, and flux composition tracking. CRM-calibrated gravimetric and solution finish protocols.
Assay Data Your Geological Team Can Trust. Every Batch, Every Campaign.
In mining, bad assay data is worse than no data. A single undetected CRM failure or blank contamination event in a resource definition campaign can inflate a mineral resource estimate with consequences that reach through bankable feasibility studies to project finance decisions. LIMSera's QAQC engine eliminates the risk of assay data being released to geological databases before all quality checks pass.
Every batch is locked for validation until CRM recoveries, blank contamination, and duplicate precision are verified against acceptance criteria. Control charts per CRM per element accumulate across campaigns, allowing laboratory performance trends to be detected across the life of mine. Geological domain plausibility checks compare assay values to established grade distributions — statistical outliers are flagged for geologist review before they propagate to the block model.
Real-Time Recovery Visibility. Process Decisions Made On Current Data.
A concentrator metallurgist monitoring shift performance needs laboratory data from the shift — not from the previous day's morning meeting. LIMSera's real-time process plant module publishes approved shift sample results to plant performance dashboards within minutes of analytical completion. Mass balance inputs from head, concentrate, and tailings assays are reconciled automatically with plant tonnage data.
Grade-recovery performance is tracked against budget continuously. When recovery drops below target, the metallurgist sees it on their dashboard with the context needed to diagnose the cause — reagent dosage data, pulp chemistry readings, and historical comparison for the same ore type. Shift reports are generated automatically from the accumulated analytical data without manual compilation.
Grade Certificates Your Commercial Team Can Defend.
Commercial grade determination for concentrate sales, royalty calculations, and smelter settlements depends on assay results that are legally defensible. LIMSera manages the complete referee and umpire program chain of custody — from sample collection at the concentrator through sealed dispatch to the independent laboratory, receipt confirmation, blind analysis, and result comparison.
When umpire and mine laboratory results diverge beyond contracted tolerance limits, LIMSera triggers the dispute resolution workflow automatically — generating the formal discrepancy notification, scheduling the third-party arbitration sample analysis, and documenting all steps in a tamper-evident record. Final settlement grade certificates are generated with complete traceability to the underlying analytical data.
Data Governance Built For The Demands Of Mining Competent Persons.
JORC / NI 43-101 Audit Trail
Complete tamper-evident records of all QAQC performance, assay validation decisions, and geological review sign-offs to support competent person reporting requirements.
Chain of Custody
End-to-end chain of custody from field collection through preparation to analysis and geological database. Referee sample integrity protected with tamper-detection records throughout commercial assay programs.
ISO/IEC 17025 Accreditation
Proficiency testing management for AMIS, Geostats, and other mining sector PT programs. Method validation data, measurement uncertainty, and inter-laboratory comparison support for ISO 17025 scope maintenance.
Environmental Compliance
Regulatory permit parameter mapping, monitoring schedule management, exceedance alert workflows, and automated compliance report generation for EPA, MoEF, and relevant state regulators.
Designed For Every Role Across Your Mining And Metals Operation
Automated QAQC insertion, CRM performance dashboards, assay validation against geological domains, and direct data export to modelling software without manual transcription
Flotation test work management, mass balance reconciliation, recovery calculation, process plant monitoring dashboards, and geometallurgical model data management
Real-time blast hole assay results, grade control block visualisation, QAQC performance tracking, and mine call factor reconciliation data
Batch throughput dashboards, TAT compliance tracking, instrument utilisation analysis, analyst performance metrics, and capacity planning for exploration season peaks
TSF and groundwater monitoring scheduling, regulatory permit compliance dashboards, exceedance alert management, and EPBC/EPA reporting automation
Referee and umpire sample chain of custody, commercial assay certificate generation, dispute resolution records, and penalty element analysis tracking
Frequently Asked Questions
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