Print this pageReference Materials
Rocklabs Standards
Gold Assaying
(Rocklabs) This reference material for precious metal refining is pulverized rock with known gold content, and suitable for analysis by fire assay or aqua regia digest. These are low cost, quality control aids used on an "every batch" basis to monitor the analytical process. They can be used by laboratories or by geologists who can submit reference materials in sachets, together with their samples, to laboratories.
These reference materials (also known as standards) are prepared from mineral matrices that contain gold which is uniformly distributed throughout the pulverized rock. Once appropriate material has been prepared and been confirmed as suitable by laboratory analysis it is packaged into jars. A full homogeneity test is then carried out on a representative number of sub-samples from the packaged batch. If there is no significant difference found between the sub-samples, the gold content is determined by consensus testing using a minimum of 15 reputable laboratories from several different countries. Standard statistical techniques are used to assign a recommended gold value with associated 95% confidence interval. Each jar is labelled with a unique number. A certificate, which includes details of the production and characterization of the reference material, is issued with each consignment of jars sold. Additional info.
All reference material sold in 2.5 kg jars.