No more re-firing failed samples, no more chasing lost results, and QA/QC built into every result before it lands. Faster turnaround means faster decisions on where ore goes next – to the plant or to the waste stack. Sophie Fay, Exploration Geologist at OceanaGold’s Macraes gold mine, explains what changed on site after switching to PhotonAssay™.
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With a cutoff grade of 0.2 grams per tonne, idle machinery and a slow fire assay lab, Macraes gold mine turned to PhotonAssay™ on site — faster turnaround at low grade, fewer steps and more reliable results.
Grade control samples took 48+ hours under fire assay. Tom Guy, Continuous Improvement Manager at OceanaGold's Macraes mine, on the grade control bottleneck and what changed when PhotonAssay™ went in.
Hamish Blakemore, Manager of Geology at OceanaGold's Macraes mine, on what changed when they moved away from fire assay: fewer steps from a 40 kg drill sample to a 500g assay aliquot means more reliable data, better precision at low grades, and enough confidence from PhotonAssay™ to change the way they mine.