Journal Article

Application of PhotonAssay™ to Coarse-Gold Mineralisation – The Importance of Rig to Assay Optimisation

Why sampling — not assaying — is often the biggest source of error in coarse gold.

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What this note covers

  • Why a standard 30 g fire assay charge is statistically likely to misrepresent true gold grade in coarse gold mineralisation — and what PhotonAssay™’s 300–500 g non-destructive analysis does differently

  • How fundamental sampling error (FSE) is calculated and applied to protocol design across low and worst-case coarse gold scenarios

  • Four case studies covering protocol comparison (fire assay vs. PhotonAssay™), laboratory splitting methods, and heterogeneity calibration using duplicate series analysis and X-ray computed tomography

  • The importance of QA/QC — CRM selection, OREAS recertification implications, and duplicate pair analysis — in any PhotonAssay™ gold assay programme

  • Practitioner recommendations for rig-to-assay protocol design that meets JORC and NI 43-101 reporting requirements

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