SGS Minerals Services (SGS) has expanded its hyperspectral analysis capability in North America with the addition of a mobile unit based in Canada. The expansion follows a significant show of support for the service offered by SGS and its hyperspectral partner Corescan in the North American market. It also enhances SGS’s mineralogy services offering with a footprint that includes Corescan in Santiago, Chile and Perth, Australia.

SGS and Corescan (based in Australia) entered into an agreement in 2014 to incorporate Corescan’s mineralogical imaging technology into SGS´s global laboratory network to provide service to its clients in both the minerals and oil and gas industries.

Hyperspectral scanning offers clients objective mineralogical and geotechnical data from drill core or chips and increases confidence in resource estimation, domain creation and mine optimisation modelling. The new unit will be moved to various sites in Canada for trial and demonstration purposes, and will support exploration and production campaigns where it can deliver high volume mineralogical data for direct application to resource models or production monitoring programs.

Recent hyperspectral users have realised direct value from Corescan through improved geological understanding in both exploration and mine programs globally. SGS is pleased to now be able to offer this service directly to its Canadian clients.

The mobile unit incorporates state-of-the-art hyperspectral imaging sensors integrated with ultra-high resolution core photography and 3D core profiling technologies. Data can be independently processed and interpreted in real time by Corescan´s proprietary mineralogical software; results are available for remote viewing via a web-based virtual core library called Coreshed. Results can also be provided in report and data formats that are compatible with all standard geological modelling packages.