SGS has opened up a new sample preparation facility in Val-d’Or, Quebec, seeking to serve the growing needs of minerals exploration companies in the province.

This is the second Canada office opening for the company in a month having set up a sample prep lab in Whitehorse, Yukon, earlier in July.

The facility is equipped to provide drying, grinding, crushing, pulverising and soil screening capabilities. Sample preparation can be completed on RC chips, and core, rock, trend and soil samples.

Val d’Or, French for ‘valley of gold’, has a vibrant gold mining history. It is part of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, which has produced more than 170 million ounces of the yellow metal since 1901.

The new Val-d’Or laboratory is SGS’ seventh in Canada, with four in Ontario, one in British Columbia and one in the Yukon.

SGS offers a wide range of services to the minerals sector including geochemical analysis, resource calculation, mineralogy, metallurgy, engineering, process design and engineering, process control, water treatment and trade services.