Data Collected

To help the Mining operators or people doing exploration, as much data as possible is inferred from the samples taken.  

Typical data that is captured is:

1.Rock type

2.Density

3.Colour

4.Texture

5.Size of sample

6.Mineral values in the sample

The last one ‘mineral values’ is often the most important. To determine the mineral values, the samples are usually sent to a laboratory that specializes in analysing mineral content.

The sample is usually crushed and heated to melt the metal out of the rock, and then treated with chemicals to determine the metal content. This operation is often referred to as Assaying the sample.

When the samples are taken, they need to be kept separate from other samples so there is no ‘contamination’. Also, one needs to know where a particular sample came from, so location is very important in sampling. To identify a particular sample, it is usually placed in a bag with a ‘Ticket’ that has a unique sample number for the sample.

This way when the Assay laboratory sends back results, they can use the Ticket number as a reference.

This means that the ticket numbers must be unique, otherwise the samples can be misidentified.