Laboratories and CRMs

High-quality, efficient laboratories can make all the difference to the success of an exploration program. With increased environmental regulations, laboratories also greatly assist mining companies in analyzing water and soil contamination.

One of the main problems for the industry is how long it can take to receive lab results, particularly for exploration programs that are on very tight time frames. Delays in laboratory services have been a significant challenge for the mining industry worldwide, with backlogs extremely long coming out of the pandemic. Bráulio Pessoa, CEO of Itak, said: “After Covid, the market is more anxious. Client demands are urgent due to accelerated projects development. Many companies have reactivated old projects and are seeking immediate responses.”

To accelerate the process, laboratories are turning to digital technologies. Fernando Quental, natural resources director at SGS, said: "Implementing digital tools to expedite analytical testing and information to the client is key as they always ask for speed.”

As the Brazilian mining sector has begun to diversify in terms of mineral production, there has been greater demand for laboratory services from metals that were previously not major players. Like other companies providing services to exploration and mining companies, SGS has seen significant growth in Brazil in recent years due to increasing interest in exploiting critical minerals for the energy transition: "We have been experiencing double-digit growth for the last five years. Over the last year, SGS has been developing our services for lithium and nickel, pursuing the energy transition space with success, and adding new customers to our portfolio,” continued Quental.

To increase precision and reliability, laboratories and mining companies are increasingly using certified reference materials (CRMs), which are control samples used to monitor chemical analysis. Itak is one such provider. Pessoa stated: “This product is used for checking whether a chemical analysis is correct and for chemical instruments calibration. Geologists use CRMs as blind samples to ensure the accuracy of their thousands of samples’ analysis results.”

At the core of developments in the laboratories and services sector is a demand that impacts nearly every element of the mining industry: the need for more information. That goes beyond sensors on machinery to a better and faster understanding of the mineral itself. Meeting that need in Brazil is a strong laboratories segment.