B Smee

Quality Control in Mineral Exploration
Controlling the Quality of Information from Field to Data Base
Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd. Not to be reproduced without written permission
Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

There many goals associated with a QA/QC program for the mineral industry: Prevent the entry of large errors into the geological Database. Demonstrate that sampling and analytical variances are small relative to geological variance. Provide assurance that the accuracy of the data can be confirmed. Save management time by automating sample names and performing automatic checks on sample names. Allow problems to be realized rapidly to minimize their effects. Keep an archive for a complete audit trail. Comply meticulously with government regulations and standards with a minimal amount of employee time and effort.

Canadian Securities Regulation NI 43-101 dictates that every resource delineation project must come under the direction of a Qualified Person (QP) A QP is a professional with at least 5 years experience and a member of a recognized professional organization that has an enforced Code of Ethics.

World securities regulators and financial institutions have adopted the principles of NI 43-101 and now demand that full QC procedures are used for all resource delineation exploration programs

Form 43-101 F1, Item 14 details the mandatory requirements for a technical report, including:
3. A summary of the nature and extent of all QC procedures employed and check assay and other check analytical and testing procedures utilized, including the results and corrective actions taken.

Form 43-101 F1, Item 15 specifically details the data corroboration requirements including:
the QC steps and data corroboration procedures which have been taken, whether the author has corroborated the data the nature of and limitations on such corroboration the reasons for any failure to corroborate the data
Quality Control Procedures are Necessary to Monitor

Accuracy Precision Contamination
Accuracy
the degree to which an analysis or mean of a set of analyses approach a true concentration. Note: the true concentration is never known; an accepted value together with error limits accompanies most standards.
Precision
Is an estimate of the reproducibility of the sampling and analytical system. The percent precision is related to concentration by: Pc = 2Sc/c x 100 where Pc is the precision in percent at concentration c, and Sc is an estimate of the standard deviation at that concentration.
Quality Control
Comparison of Accuracy and Precision
Bias
Precise but not Accurate
Accurate but not Precise
Both Accurate and Precise
Sampling and Analytical Bias

A systematic error inherent in a method or caused by some artifact or idiosyncrasy of the sampling system.
Contamination
The introduction of any substance to a geological sample that is not in the original in situ location of that sample.
Geological Blank
A sample of uncrushed rock or drill core that is known to contain a very low or nondetectable concentration of the element being sought. The blank is used to monitor contamination.
Geological Standard
A composite of naturally occurring geological material for which an accepted mean and error on the mean has been defined. The standard is used to monitor accuracy.
Round Robin
The analysis of a newly prepared geological standard, done in replicate by a number of labs, the purpose of which is to calculate the accepted mean and standard deviation. At least 60 analyses using a minimum of 5 labs are recommended.
Field Duplicate Sample

Splits of drill core, reverse circulation cuttings or outcrop from the same sampling interval. These splits are bagged separately with separate sample numbers so as to be blind to the sample preparation laboratory.
The Use of Field Duplicates

The field duplicate contains all levels of error: core or RC cuttings splitting, sample size reduction in the prep lab, and subsampling at the pulp, plus the analytical error. They are also a check on possible sample over selection. The duplicates are used to calculate field, preparation and analytical precision.
Preparation Duplicate Sample

Splits of one sample taken after the coarse crush but before pulverizing (pulp). These should be done routinely by the sample preparation laboratory (usually 1 in 40 samples). The preparation duplicate has the error of sample size reduction in the preparation lab and the error of analyses.
Pulp Duplicate Sample

Two separate weighings and analyses from one pulp. These are usually done routinely by all laboratories (between 1 in 5 to 1 in 20 samples). The pulp duplicate has the error of analyses.
Sample Over Selection

Samplers have, either purposely or inadvertently sampled geological material, usually drill core, so as to preferentially place visible mineralization in the sample bag going for analysis.
The Use of Standards

Certified Reference Material (CRMs) These may be purchased from a number of sources including:
Canmet: www.nrcan.gc.ca/mms/canmet-mtb/ccrmp/ CDN Labs: www.cdnlabs.com/ NIST: ois.nist.gov/srmcatalog/ USGS: minerals.cr.usgs.gov/geo_chem_stand/ Rocklabs: www.rocklabs.com/ Geostats: www.geostats.com.au African Minerals: www.amis.co.za

Certified Reference Material (CRMs)
New standard certificates include the Between Lab Standard Deviation, which is to be used in assessing accuracy of a single analysis.

Property Specific Standards
Standard 1, Round Robin
Gold, gpt
Round Robin analysis and statistical calculations.
1.10 1.05 1.00 0.95 0.90 0.85 0.80 0.75 0.70 0.65 0.60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 L2 L2L2 L2L2 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L3 L3 L3 L3L3 L3 L4 L2 L3 L3 L4 L4 L2 L3 L2 L3 L2 L4 L4 L4 L5 L5 L5 L5L5L5 L5L5 L5 L5 L2
L4 L4 L4 L4
Analytical Order

Standard chart with standards from drill samples.
Assay Grade (Au gr/T)
Standard 1 Gold Round Robin and Drill Holes
1.00 L3
Round Robin Data

0.90 L3 L3 L3
Drill Data
Mean + 2SD
L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1L1 0.80 L1 L1 L1 L1L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 0.70
L2
L3 L3
L3
L3 L3 L3
Note: lab does better as drill program proceeds.
L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2
L3L3 L3 L3L3 L3 L3 L3
L3 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L2 L3 L2
P-27 P-27 P-28 L4 P-27 P-24 P-26 P-26 P-27 P-29 P-29 P-24 P-25 P-26 P-24 P-29 P-29 P-31 P-31 P-27 P-28 P-31 P-32 P-32 P-32 P-32 P-33 P-34 P-34 P-36 P-25 P-32 P-24 P-25 P-25 P-26 P-28 P-31 P-31 P-33 P-34 P-35 P-35 P-35 P-36 P-37 P-38 P-30 P-30 P-35 P-38 P-26 P-30 P-30 L4 L4 L4 L4 L4 L4 L4 L4L4 L4L4 L4 L4 L4 L4 L4 L4 L4 L4 P-25 P-28 L4 L4 L4 L4 L4
Mean
L3
Mean - 2SD
0.60 L3 0.50 L2
L3 L3 L3
0.40 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Number of Samples

Field Screw Ups
4.50 4.00
Standard C3, Au
Failed standards caused by poor sample storage and contamination of standard in field.
92 84 114 AC AC GL GL GL GL AC GL AC AC SGS GL GL GL 86 87 89 AC BC 109 114 GL GL BC 79 BC BC AC AC 79 93 95 79 108 CM SGS SGS 107 99 100 104 BC BC AC 112 SGS 80 81 86 91 106 110 118 BC BC 92 BC AC SGS 82 88 90 SGS BC CM SGS 87 SGS 89 108109 114 SGS SGS 100 116 ACT 94 97 CM CMCM CM CM 116 ACT 110 ACT ACT CM CM 110 111 116 ACT 117 ACT ACT ACT ACT 105 79 ACT 99 105 97 117 CM 88 104 108 85 86 79 90 89 0 20 40 60 80 96 98 94 97 99 100 109 120 140
3.50
Au, gpt
3.00 2.50 2.00
Analysis Number 81
Standards in drill samples


a0213053
Inventing ways to screw up. Give the standard a name in the data base. Wrong standard selected in the field.
Gold, g/t
SPD-2 Standard Samples

1.20
Failure wrong standard name

1.10
1.00
0.90
a0213683 a0213574 a0213487 a0212001 a0118681 a0129828 a0130261 a0130563 a0129829 a0211855 a0118683 a0130257 a0210946 a0213887 a0210677 a0212111 a0129055 a0211201 a0211494 a0129319 a0212179 a0211491 a0211497 a0117844 a0128554 a0210954 a0211204 a0130973 a0211771 a0116918 a0116916 A0114936 a0116920 a0119059 0.80 a0117842 a0118687 a0116322 a0117839 A0115476 A0116318 A0115473 A0114939 0.70 A0115477 0.60
Failure
0.50
0.40 0 5 10 15 20 25 Work Order Number 30 35 40 45 50

a0213052
SPD-1 Standard Samples
Inventing ways to screw up. Give the standard a name in the data base. Wrong standard selected in the field.
Gold, g/t
7.50
7.30
Failures
7.10 a0213682 a0128088 a0130258 a0211200 a0210680 a0211492 a0129317 a0213888 a0129827 a0211856 a0212112 a0212187 a0211772 a0212850 a0211203 a0129829 a0130972 a0210952 a0211498 a0211495 a0128553 a0129054 a0130565 a0130569 a0210945 a0130975 a0213572 LI09575-0
6.90 6.70 A0114938
6.50
a0116915 a0118682 A0115472 A0116320 a0117838 a0118685 a0117841 A0114935 a0118690
6.30
a0119063 a0119272 a0116917 a0117845
6.10
5.90
5.70
Failure (blank)
5.50 0 5 10 15 a0128089 20 25 Work Order Number 30 35 40 45 50

Porphyry Copper Project
Cu, %
Field standard showing both drift and change in instrument.
0.45 0.44 0.43 0.42 0.41 0.40 0.39 0.38 0.37 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.33 0.32 0.31 0.30 0 100 200 300 Analysis Number 400 500 600
Calibration drift
5 % difference in average grade
The Use of Field Blank

Most contamination occurs during sample preparation. Blanks must therefore be submitted from the field to the preparation laboratory.
Field Blanks, Preparation Contamination
45.0 40.0 35.0 30.0
Silver, gpt
25.0
Failed Blanks
20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 Drill Hole Number
Warning Level
This contamination was found by the field blank only, not by the laboratory. It originated in the steel of the pulverizer, that contained 95 g/t Au.

Au ppb
100 120 160 140 180 200 240 220 260 280 320 300 340 360 400 380 420 440 480 460 500 20 40 80 60 0
08/10/1998 12/10/1998 16/10/1998 20/10/1998 24/10/1998 28/10/1998 01/11/1998 05/11/1998 09/11/1998 13/11/1998 17/11/1998 21/11/1998 25/11/1998 29/11/1998 03/12/1998 07/12/1998 11/12/1998 15/12/1998 19/12/1998 23/12/1998 27/12/1998 31/12/1998 04/01/1999 08/01/1999 12/01/1999 16/01/1999 20/01/1999 24/01/1999 28/01/1999 01/02/1999 05/02/1999 09/02/1999 13/02/1999 17/02/1999 21/02/1999 25/02/1999
1998
Massive Batch Contamination
Field Blank Au ppb
Date of Analysis
Warning Level
1999

P-35 P-36
The beginning of a drilling program usually has the most failures, as the laboratory becomes accustomed to the samples.
Field Blank
0.30
0.25 P-24 0.20
Assay Grade (Au gr/T)
Drill Hole Number

P-38
0.15 P-25 0.10 P-24 0.05 P-24 P-24 P-24P-25 P-25 P-25 P-27 P-27P-27 P-29 P-29 P-29 P-24 P-24 P-24 P-24 P-25 P-25 P-25 P-25 P-25 P-26 P-26 P-26 P-26 P-26 P-26 P-26 P-26 P-26 P-26 P-27 P-27 P-27 P-27 P-27 P-27 P-28 P-28 P-28 P-28 P-28 P-28 P-28 P-28 P-28 P-28 P-29 P-29 P-29 P-29 P-29 P-30 P-30 P-30 P-30 P-30 P-30 P-30 P-30 P-30 P-31 P-31 P-31 P-31 P-31 P-31 P-31 P-31 P-31 P-32 P-32 P-32 P-32 P-32 P-32 P-32 P-32 P-32 P-32 P-33 P-33 P-33 P-33 P-33 P-33 P-33 P-33 P-34 P-34 P-34 P-34 P-34 P-34 P-34 P-34 P-35 P-35 P-35 P-35 P-35 P-35 P-35 P-36 P-36 P-36 P-36 P-36 P-36 P-37 P-38 P-38 P-38 P-38 P-38 P-38 P-38 P-38 0.00 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 P-26
Warning Level
Number of Samples

Example of field blank using unmineralized core.

1st step in handling duplicate data is to plot the original analysis vs the duplicate analysis. Look for fliers that may indicate sample mis-ordering or nugget effect.
Precision Resources Field Duplicates
25000
20000
Regression Line 1:1 Line
Gold, Duplicate
15000
10000
Possible sample mix-ups
5000
0 0 5000 10000 Gold, Original 15000 20000 25000

1st step in handling duplicate data is to plot the original analysis vs the duplicate analysis. Look for fliers that may indicate sample mis-ordering or nugget effect.
Example of Bias Chart
4.0 3.5 1:1 Line 3.0
2.5
Au 2, gpt
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Au 1, gpt

Calculate the mean of the duplicates and the absolute difference between the duplicates to look for the relationship between grade and precision.
Difference vs Mean of Duplicates
1.2
1.0
Absolute Diff of Duplicates - Au (g/t)
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Mean of Duplicates - Au (g/t)

Thompson-Howarth Estimate of Precision
Sort the mean and absolute differences by increasing mean. Then group the data in sets of 11 samples. Calculate the mean of each set of 11 and the median difference. Plot these.
Thompson-Howarth Precision Calculation Regression of Groups of 11
0.20
Regression Equation
y = 0.0493x + 0.0112
Median Diff of Gps of 11 Duplicates - Au
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Mean of Gps of 11 Duplicates - Au (g/t)

Calculate the regression equation of the linear regression line.
Regression Coefficients Intercept X Variable 0.0112 = So 0.0493 = K
Pc=2So/C + 2K

C Pc
234.36 122.11 65.98 54.76 32.31 24.82 21.08 18.83 17.34 16.27 15.47 14.84 14.34 13.94 13.60 13.31
Use the formula to calculate the relationship between precision and concentration
0.01 0.02 0.04 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65

Plot this precision data on a chart.
Precision (%)
Thompson-Howarth Precision vs Concentration

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Concentration, Au, gpt

Repeat this procedure for all three types of duplicates. This will show where the major error is in the sampling and analytical protocol.
All Dup Precision, Au, All Data
100 Pulp Dup 90 Prep Dup Core dup 80
70
60
Precision, %
50
40
30
20
10
0 0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00 Au, g/t
1.20
1.40
1.60
1.80
2.00
Quality Control Logic

Decision logic is required for each project to decide if a QC sample is a failure, and a reason for the failure.
Quality Control Logic

Example of Logic for Gold Project
Example of Table of Failures

B Smee

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

B Smee

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Quality Control in Mineral Exploration

Controlling the Quality of Information from Field to Data Base

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Quality Control in Mineral Exploration

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Quality Control in Mineral Exploration

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Quality Control in Mineral Exploration

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Quality Control in Mineral Exploration

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Quality Control in Mineral Exploration

Quality Control Procedures are Necessary to Monitor

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Precise but not Accurate

Accurate but not Precise

Both Accurate and Precise

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Sampling and Analytical Bias

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Field Duplicate Sample

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

The Use of Field Duplicates

Preparation Duplicate Sample

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Pulp Duplicate Sample

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

Sample Over Selection

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

The Use of Standards

The Use of Standards

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

The Use of Standards

Round Robin analysis and statistical calculations.

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

The Use of Standards

Standard 1 Gold Round Robin and Drill Holes

Round Robin Data

L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1L1 0.80 L1 L1 L1 L1L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 L1 0.70

Note: lab does better as drill program proceeds.

0.40 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

The Use of Standards

Standards in drill samples

The Use of Standards

SPD-2 Standard Samples

Failure wrong standard name

0.40 0 5 10 15 20 25 Work Order Number 30 35 40 45 50

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

The Use of Standards

SPD-1 Standard Samples

6.90 6.70 A0114938

a0116915 a0118682 A0115472 A0116320 a0117838 a0118685 a0117841 A0114935 a0118690

a0119063 a0119272 a0116917 a0117845

Smee and Associates Consulting Ltd.

The Use of Standards

Field standard showing both drift and change in instrument.