EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE KEY TO ASSAYERS SUCCESS

There is an often repeated saying that the strength of any company is in its people, and this statement couldn’t have more relevance than it does at Assayers Canada in Vancouver.

Dave Smith, the president of Assayers Canada, credits Wilfred Tsang, the Lab Manager and Chief Chemist, as being the key to the whole operation.

"The depth of Wilfred’s knowledge of virtually every aspect of analytical chemistry is staggering. While much of assaying involves simply following a recipe, every day in the lab there arise unexpected difficulties- like a rock with a difficult matrix, or a request to use a non-standard methodology. To each of these, Wilfred draws on his years of experience to come up with an approach that will give the client what he wants (or, occasionally, let the client know that what he wants simply can’t be done!!)".

Dave speaks equally glowingly of the other core staff at the lab – Albert Hung (Fire Assay), Trevor Nicholson (ICP and Data Services), and Satpaul Gill (Wet Chemistry).

"We’re very lucky to have such a technically strong team working at Assayers Canada. Our four senior supervisory staff at the lab together have more than 8 decades of assaying experience – there isn’t much they don’t know about analyzing geological samples!"

Assayers Canada is the new operating name of Mineral Environments Laboratories, (known commonly as Min-En Labs) a company that has been analyzing samples for Canadian and international mining and exploration companies for almost 30 years.

In 1972, John Barakso, a well known personality on the Vancouver exploration scene, bought some analytical equipment and started up an assay lab which, though never as large as some of its competitors, quickly achieved an enviable reputation. Clients appreciated the fast turn around times, staff professionalism and friendly, personable customer service – but most of all they appreciated the quality of the results that Min-En Labs invariably produced.

John operated the lab, building up an extensive and loyal client base until 1989 when he retired from assaying and sold out to the Assayers Group, a company which also owned TSL Laboratories in Saskatoon and Swastika Laboratories in Swastika, Ontario.

In the most recent development in the company’s history, in late 1999, Min-En Labs was sold to the management team in Vancouver, and the name Assayers Canada was adopted, to approach the new millennium with a fresh new image.

It would be wrong to say that things have always been easy for Assayers Canada. As with many other companies in this business, the late 90’s were particularly devastating, with low metal prices and even lower investor confidence causing unparalleled low levels of worldwide exploration. This, combined with the lack of government support for the industry in B.C., made things pretty rough for a small company which traditionally had relied heavily on western Canadian exploration activity for the bulk of its revenues.

But the company has survived, in no small part because a number of major clients (like EuroZinc Mining Corp.in Portugal, and Farallon Resources Ltd. in Mexico) sent work from overseas while things were quiet in BC. At the same time, the company’s close association with TSL Laboratories and Swastika Laboratories was helpful, because both of these companies still sub-contract certain work to Assayers Canada.

There is a perception that investor confidences is slowly creeping back into the exploration and mining industries, with companies dusting off their property portfolios and arranging finance while geologists scrounge in the back of the closets for their G-picks and field boots. Anticipation is building for a fairly active 2001 field season, and Assayers Canada is hopeful that the quiet times of recent years are slowly becoming history.

The name of the game in the assaying business is quality – more than anything else, that is what the client demands. Assayers Canada has consistently achieved Certificates of Laboratory Proficiency from the Standards Council of Canada for precious and base metal analysis, and the lab is steadily working towards ISO 17025 Certification (the new ISO standard specifically for testing and calibration laboratories).

Customer Service is another key to success in this business. With 20 years as an exploration geologist before he got involved with Assayers Canada, company president Dave Smith understands the clients’ needs. "I understand the business from the customer’s point of view, because I was a customer of labs for so many years. As a client, it doesn’t matter how big your account is with the lab, the samples you send in took a lot of effort and expense to collect, and they are very important to you. At Assayers Canada, we appreciate that fact, and endeavor to give everyone not just the highest quality assaying, but also fast and friendly customer service."

You can find out more about Assayers Canada by visiting their web site at www.assayers.com.