Case Study

How Ravenswood Gold reduced assay costs

Queensland, Australia

5–10% savings on assays

With an expanding operation and strict requirements for high sample volumes, quick turn-around times and results to be used in JORC compliant reporting, Ravenswood Gold turned to PhotonAssay™.

How game-changing PhotonAssay™ transformed the Ravenswood Gold Mine - the full story.

Key Outcomes

5–10%

savings on assay costs

Zero

Assay backlog

±5%

Reconciliation variance

““The Ravenswood team is thrilled to have PhotonAssay right in the heart of its mining operations. The technology’s significant safety and sustainability benefits combined with its low cost, high efficiency and lightning turnaround times delivers all the outcomes we require.””

Brett Fletcher

Managing Director & CEO, Ravenswood Gold

The Challenge

Ravenswood Gold Mine had a production problem hiding in the lab. With ambitions to ramp output three to four times over, the operation needed 17,000 assays a month — but the onsite PAL system couldn't keep pace. Samples were backlogged, grade control was compromised, and the ripple effect ran straight through the business: drillers waiting, blast teams waiting, machinery idle. The ore's high nugget effect compounded the problem. PAL's 1kg samples still weren't representative enough for the metallurgy team to trust their own figures. Assay delays weren't just an inconvenience, they were a domino effect that put the whole operation under pressure.

Aerial view of the Ravenswood open-cut gold mine showing terraced pit walls and mining infrastructure

Geologist in orange hi-vis handling a drill core sample at a rig site at Ravenswood Gold Mine, Queensland

Aerial view of the Ravenswood Gold Mine processing plant infrastructure, Queensland, showing conveyor systems, tanks, and mine facilities under a blue sky

The Solution

When PhotonAssay™ arrived on site in 2022, Ravenswood had 4,000 overdue assays. Today that number sits around zero. Grade control results land within 24 hours, process plant samples within four, and the team can pull results, adjust drill patterns and add holes before the next shift starts. PhotonAssay™ results are used in their JORC compliant reports, and results proved more accurate and precise than what they'd worked with previously. Reconciliation went from variable to highly accurate. And at 5–10% cheaper than their previous setup, it turned out the best assay method on site was also the most economical one.

Chrysos PhotonAssay™ 1408X unit installed inside the Ravenswood Gold Mine facility, Queensland, showing the full cabinet with Ravenswood Gold branding and yellow safety barriers

Close-up of barcoded PhotonAssay™ sample jars loaded onto the automated conveyor tray at Ravenswood Gold Mine, Queensland

Chrysos PhotonAssay™ unit installed at Ravenswood Gold Mine, Queensland, showing the full system with conveyor, operator workstation, and Ravenswood Gold branding

Pioneers in a New Model

Ravenswood Gold are the first mine in the world to lease and operate a PhotonAssay™ unit independently — no commercial lab and no third party. Where most operations adopt PhotonAssay™ through an external laboratory arrangement, Ravenswood took full ownership of their assay capability. For a mine running 17,000 assays a month with two drill rigs turning 24/7, that independence isn’t just operationally convenient — it’s a genuine competitive advantage.

Conference Paper

Read the full Ravenswood case study paper

Read the full paper presented at World Gold 2025 in Denver — a detailed technical review including feasibility study data, precision comparisons against fire assay and operational outcomes.

View the full resource