Geological QA/QC in the Real World

Armando Simón
AMEC International Chile S.A.

PDAC 2008 Geochemistry Workshop, Toronto, 1 March 2008

Geological QA/QC in the Real World

Presentation Outline

• Some QA/QC Definitions

• QA/QC Developments in Post-Bre-X Times
• Frequent Issues on Real-World QA/QC
• Examples of Successful QA/QC Applications

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 Introduction

The Concept of Quality

In everyday life:
Usually abstract, subjective and intuitive, mostly
related to personal satisfaction

In industry and professional activity:

Usually concrete, objective and measurable, mostly
related to clearly defined goals

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Introduction

What Quality of Estimations Depends On?

Geological Factors,
Quality of Sampling, Preparation and
Estimations Assaying,
Data Recording, Data Processing

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 QA/QC Definitions

Quality Assurance

ISO Definition

The assembly of all planned and systematic actions

necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product,
process, or service will satisfy given quality requirements

QA Prevention

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QA/QC Definitions

Quality Control

ISO Definition

A set of regular activities or techniques whose purpose is to

ensure that all quality requirements are being met; in order to
achieve this purpose, processes are monitored and performance
problems are solved

QC Detection

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 QA/QC Definitions

Quality Assurance

What our quality goals are?

What should we do to achieve them?

Quality Control

Are we achieving our quality goals?

What should we do if we are not achieving them?

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QA/QC Definitions

In other words:

Quality Assurance refers to

what we need: THE INTENTION

Quality Control refers to

what we actually get: THE TRUTH

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 Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

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Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Quality in NI 43-101
All written information of scientific or technical nature
related to mining projects should:

Specify if a Qualified Person verified the data on which

this information is based, including sampling, assaying
and tests
Describe the quality assurance program and the quality
control measures
Describe the nature and limitations of such verification
Explain any deficiencies detected during the verification

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 Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Quality in JORC

A Competent Person report should:

Describe the nature, quality and appropriate

selection of sampling and analytical procedures
Describe the quality control procedures, including
the insertion of standards, blanks, duplicates and
external checks
Assess the accuracy and precision levels attained
during the project

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Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

However, quality of geological data is a matter

of concern not only for companies working under
NI43-101, JORC or other widely recognized codes:

Hundreds (or thousands) of private exploration

companies, mines and laboratories are involved
in exploration and mining all over the world, and
many of them are represented in the PDAC

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 Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Evaluation of QC Performance
on Audited Projects
from South America and Europe
Period: 2003-2007
Number of Projects Audited: 26
Evaluation:
A (Excellent) : 1 (4%)
B (Acceptable): 3 (12%)
C (Inadequate): 11 (42%)
D (No regular QC): 11 (42%)

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Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Review of QC Information on
Sedar-Published Technical Reports
based on Google Query

Date of Query: October 16, 2006

Number of Reports Reviewed: 16
With Relevant QC Information: 8 (50%)

(After Simón, 2007)

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 Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Reviewed Technical Reports (1)

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Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Reviewed Technical Reports (2)

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 Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Should we worry about Quality?

True example: Au operation in South America
Reproducibility of Pulp Duplicates

80.00

70.00

60.00
A1 vs A2
A1 vs A3
45
-10%
50.00 10%
A2 vs A3
Duplicate (g/t)

A1 vs A4
A2 vs A4
40.00 A3 vs A4
-30%
30%

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00
0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 80.00 90.00 100.00 110.00 120.00
Original (g/t)

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Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Should we worry about Quality?

True example: Au operation in South America (Detail)
Reproducibility of Pulp Duplicates
Detail for Low Grades
10.00

9.00

8.00

7.00
A1 vs A2
A1 vs A3
45
6.00 -10%
Duplicate (g/t)

10%
A2 vs A3
A1 vs A4
5.00 A2 vs A4
A3 vs A4
-30%
4.00 30%

3.00

2.00

1.00

0.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00 11.00 12.00 13.00 14.00 15.00
Original (g/t)

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 Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Should we worry about Quality?

Another example: Au operation in South America
XXX Mine Lab: Au in Internal Pulp Duplicates (Low Grades)
45º Line
4

+ 10 % - 10 %
Au in Internal Pulp Duplicate (g/t)

PD
2
45º Line
+10% Line
-10% Line
Lineal (PD)

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Au in Original Samples (g/t)

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Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

What did these examples have in common?

The “solution”:

Repeating all assays, and averaging the results

The ownership:

Both mines were owned and operated by North

American companies

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 Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Common Reactions to QA/QC Implementation (1)

From Management

Shock, or even anger, for proportional increase

in handling, preparation and analytical costs

From Geologists

Reluctance in implementation due to stricter

organizational requirements, or simply due to
lack of understanding of QA/QC principles
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Geological QA/QC: The Current Picture

Common Reactions to QA/QC Implementation (2)

From Laboratories

Laboratory personnel often identify geological

quality control with lack of confidence in their
results

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 Quality Assurance

Purpose of Quality Assurance:

Minimizing the effect of the main sources of
error in resource estimation
Geological heterogeneity
Sampling
Sample preparation
Assaying
Preparation of the database

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Quality Assurance

Factors Enhancing the Negative Effect

of Geological Heterogeneity

• Using poorly qualified personnel

• Miscodification of units or domains
• Using inadequate exploration grids
• Using inadequate estimation packages
or procedures

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 Quality Assurance

Frequent Sampling Issues (1)

• Sampling bias in channel sampling:

• soft material prevailing over hard material
• too large fragments of hard material
• Sampling bias in core sampling:
• wrong orientation of the cutting line in core
sampling
• Sampling bias in chip sampling:
• Preferential sampling of large fragments,
leaving the fine material at the bottom of the
box

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Quality Assurance

Frequent Sampling Issues (2)

• Sampling bias in blast-hole sampling: major loses

of fine material
• Sampling bias in density sampling: choosing only
compact pieces of core
• Sampling bias in RC sampling: major loses of
particulate material
• Systematic intervals in core or channel sampling:
ignoring major contacts
• Taking density samples from dumps
• Sample mislabeling, mixups

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 Quality Assurance

Sampling bias: large fragments of soft material

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Quality Assurance

Sampling bias: large fragments of hard material

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 Quality Assurance

Sampling bias: wrong cutting line

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Quality Assurance

Sampling bias: wrong cutting line

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 Quality Assurance

Sampling bias: wrong cutting line

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Quality Assurance

Sampling bias: picking up only large fragments

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 Quality Assurance

Sampling bias in blast-hole sampling:

major loses of particulate material

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Quality Assurance

Sampling bias in RC drilling:

major loses of particulate material

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 Quality Assurance

Frequent Sample Preparation Issues

• Crushing or pulverization too coarse

• Formation of lumps or flakes during
pulverization
• Worn-out crushing or pulverization equipment
• Wrong splitting techniques
• Wrong sample manipulation: gloves, brushes
• Deficient cleaning
• Deficient dust extraction

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Quality Assurance

Too coarse crushing

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 Quality Assurance

Worn-out equipment

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Quality Assurance

Worn-out equipment

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 Quality Assurance

Worn-out equipment

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Quality Assurance

Worn-out equipment

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 Quality Assurance

Worn-out equipment

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Quality Assurance

Worn-out utensils

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 Quality Assurance

Wrong splitting technique

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Quality Assurance

Deficient cleaning

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 Quality Assurance

Deficient cleaning

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Quality Assurance

Deficient cleaning

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 Quality Assurance

Wrong sample manipulation : the “villains”

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Quality Assurance

Wrong sample manipulation : the “villains”

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 Quality Assurance

Wrong sample manipulation: the “villains”

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Quality Assurance

Frequent Assaying Issues (1)

• Using inadequate analytical methods

• Using inappropriate CRMs
• Using inadequate calculation methods
• Using wrong density determination
procedures:
• Not considering the presence of

porosity
• Not drying the samples
• Measuring density in pulps

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 Quality Assurance

Frequent Assaying Issues (2)

• Modifying the analytical method with no warning

• Using deficient QC protocols:
• Insufficient number and types of control

samples
• Insufficient control operations
• Lack of quality control data processing
• Sample mix-ups

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Quality Assurance

Frequent Laboratory Reporting Issues

• Inconsistent reporting protocols

• Using various table formats

• Using various number formats

• Using different symbols for values
below detection limit
• Using different units for the same
element
• Not reporting the assay methods
• Not reporting the QC data

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 Quality Control

Purpose of Quality Control:

Monitoring the main quality parameters, and
taking appropriate measurements
(if necessary)
Assessing precision (sampling, sub-sampling,
assaying) through duplicates
Assessing accuracy through CRMs and check
samples
Assessing contamination (during preparation
and assaying) though blanks
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Quality Control

Frequent Issues in the Assessment of Precision (1)

• Using only one or two duplicate types

• Comparing non-equivalent samples:
• Different support (weight, dimensions)

• Different spatial position (intervals)

• Different sampling or assaying time
• Different analytical conditions (detection limit, method)
• Different laboratories

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 Quality Control

Frequent Issues in the Assessment of Precision (2)

• Submitting twin samples (core duplicates) or coarse

duplicates to a secondary laboratory
• Taking preparation duplicates from the last split after
crushing, instead of taking them from the first split
• Not inserting duplicates in the external check batches

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Quality Control

Frequent Issues in the Assessment of Accuracy (1)

• Using an insufficient number of CRMs

• Using deficiently prepared and/or documented CRMs
• Using CRMs that have not been documented
• Selecting CRMs not corresponding to the grade ranges or
the type of material present in the deposit
• Using CRMs prepared by the same laboratory that will be
evaluated

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 Quality Control

Frequent Issues in the Assessment of Accuracy (2)

• Submitting the CRM samples in the same original bags,

so that the nature (and sometimes even the certified
values) of the CRMs is revealed
• Wrong manipulation during the insertions (contamination,
mislabeling, mix-ups)
• Not inserting CRMs in the external check batches

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Quality Control

Frequent Issues in the Assessment of Contamination (1)

• Using only one type of blanks

• Using as blanks some materials whose blank nature has not
been demonstrated
• Using blanks of a very different nature from the material to be
assessed
• Inserting blanks randomly, regardless of the nature of the
preceding sample (should be rich samples)

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 Quality Control

Frequent Issues in the Assessment of Contamination (2)

• Inserting blanks in the first position in the batch

• Deficient sample manipulation during the insertion process
(possible contamination, mix-ups)
• Using river boulders as blank material
• Not inserting blanks in the external check batches

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Quality Control

Frequent QC Issues in the Laboratory

• Altering the sample order:

• Preparing all the ordinary samples first, and leaving the

blanks to be processed at the end, after cleaning the

equipment
• Assaying all the ordinary samples first, and then the
CRMs
• Correcting the values of the whole batch to compensate for
the deviations from the CRM certified value
• Using visual or “intuitive” criteria for accepting of rejecting
assays
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 Quality Control

Frequent Generic QC Issues

• Not keeping the identity of control samples

• Using poor QC protocols (insufficient number and types of
control samples)
• Not processing the QC data on a timely fashion
• Not processing the QC data

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The Future

Consequence of Lack of QC Protocols

(or Poor QC Protocols)

• If lacking, entire drilling campaigns may have to be excluded

from the resource estimation databases, so affecting the
resource classification
• If QC data were not timely processed, then only a “forensic”
analysis can be done

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 The Future

What about the Future?

During the last three years, only in the South American offices,
AMEC has been requested to implement and/or to monitor QA/QC
programs on over 20 projects

In same period, AMEC has trained in QA/QC theory and practice

over 300 professionals from exploration and mining companies in
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Madagascar, México and
Peru

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Successful QA/QC Applications

Ni Exploration in Madagascar
Ambatovy Project, Dynatec

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 Successful QA/QC Applications

Ni Exploration in Madagascar
Ambatovy Project, Dynatec

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Successful QA/QC Applications

Ni Exploration in Madagascar
Ambatovy Project, Dynatec

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 Successful QA/QC Applications

Ni Exploration in Madagascar
Ambatovy Project, Dynatec

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Successful QA/QC Applications

Ni Exploration in Madagascar
Ambatovy Project, Dynatec

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 Successful QA/QC Applications

Ni Exploration in Madagascar
Ambatovy Project, Dynatec

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Successful QA/QC Applications

Cu-Mo Exploration in Chile

Caserones Project, Pan Pacific Copper

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 Successful QA/QC Applications

Cu-Mo Exploration in Chile

Caserones Project, Pan Pacific Copper

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Successful QA/QC Applications

Cu-Mo Exploration in Chile

Caserones Project, Pan Pacific Copper

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 Successful QA/QC Applications

Cu-Mo Exploration in Chile

Caserones Project, Pan Pacific Copper

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Successful QA/QC Applications

Cu-Mo Exploration in Chile

Caserones Project, Pan Pacific Copper

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 Successful QA/QC Applications

Iodine Exploration in Chile

Algorta Project, ACF Minera

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Successful QA/QC Applications

Iodine Exploration in Chile

Algorta Project, ACF Minera

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 Successful QA/QC Applications

Iodine Exploration in Chile

Algorta Project, ACF Minera

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Successful QA/QC Applications

Iodine Exploration in Chile

Algorta Project, ACF Minera

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 Successful QA/QC Applications

Iodine Exploration in Chile

Algorta Project, ACF Minera

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Successful QA/QC Applications

Iodine Exploration in Chile

Algorta Project, ACF Minera

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 Successful QA/QC Applications

Iodine Exploration in Chile

Algorta Project, ACF Minera

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Successful QA/QC Applications

Iodine Exploration in Chile

Algorta Project, ACF Minera

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 Recommendations

Implement from Day 1 a comprehensive QA/QC

program
Use personnel, equipment, contractors and
laboratories able to ensure optimum quality
parameters
Keep the database permanently updated
Keep proper documentation of every process

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Final Consideration

“The bitterness of poor quality remains

long after the sweetness of low price has
gone”
(Anonymous, quoted by Scott Long)

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