SGS is expanding its Chrysos PhotonAssay™ offering, confirming that it will be able to offer analysis using this technology at its Orange laboratory in New South Wales, Australia, from December.

The Orange laboratory was opened in July 2022 with an aim of delivering first class geochemistry testing services to clients across Australia.

Back in 2021, SGS said it was expanding its service delivery in obtaining Chrysos PhotonAssay technology as an alternative to traditional fire assay procedures. The two companies – SGS and Chrysos – reached an agreement to install a PhotonAssay unit at SGS’s Australian Minerals Regional Hub in Perth, Western Australia.

Hitting samples with high-energy X-rays, Chrysos PhotonAssay causes excitation of atomic nuclei allowing rapid and enhanced analysis of gold, silver and complementary elements. Importantly, the non-destructive process allows large samples of up to 500 g to be measured and provides a “true” bulk reading independent of the chemical or physical form of the sample, the companies say. The technology is also measurably safer and more environmentally friendly than previous assay processes, aligning with SGS’s core principle of achieving a better, safer, and more interconnected world, SGS added.

PhotonAssay provides enhanced analysis of gold, silver and complementary elements in as little as two minutes, improving turnaround time, SGS says.

Chrysos said it processed 1.3 million samples in the three-month period to September 30, with 54 currently deployed or contractually-committed PhotonAssay units in total.