ICP technology is about 20 years old, van Engelen says, and his company has been using it for about five years. At an affordable cost, it allows exploration companies to detect up to 40 different elements in a given sample. This means geologists can map alteration patterns and detect pathfinder elements more easily. Not only does ICP give more information per sample, it provide information at lower levels of detection than was possible using older, atomic adsorption technology. This means exploration geologists can see if they are approaching an orebody from farther away than was formerly the case.
Some major assay labs using ICP technology include: Barringer Laboratories of Mississauga, Ont., Bondar- Clegg in Cloucester, Ont., Chemex in Vancouver, Technical Service Laboratories in Mississauga and X-Ray Assay Laboratories in Don Mills, Ont.
Neutron activation is another assaying technology which has added speed and accuracy to base metals exploration. This technique can be used on large samples and has the advantage of picking up pathfinder elements over a larger area surrounding an orebody thanks to a lower limit of detection capability. Companies offering this assaying technique include Bondar-Clegg Technical Service Laboratories.
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