OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013 VOLUME 3 | 4

� Key Words: The future is not acommodity - neitherare our grandchildren

� Integratedproduction looms - tracking the migration route of smelter projects

� Spotlight: Aurubis and Luvatain the first of a wave of strategic realignments?

� The ECI calls forbetter EU resourceefficiency measures

� GIFA Preview –copper industrysuppliers

� In Profile:Bob Kickham -with heritageComes aresponsibility

� China report in every issue -with support from Beijing Antaike

� An inspiring eventin May – will itrevitalise a copper niche sector?

� People:Ankh and Outotec award winners

� Copper China -a new additionto the Chineseshow calendar

ISSN PENDING

www.copperworldwide.com

METALLIC MEDIA LTD

� Key Words: Opportunity inmulti-metal recycling

� News:Acquisitions andprojects mostlymoving forward

� China Review:Project roundup and capacitytargets

� 11th WorldCopperConference -Pictorial Review

� Copper ScrapRecycling -Xstrata takes on valuables

� Metallo interviewCopper RecyclingConference -SDI La Farga

� Cold Rolling -Fröhling in China - ROCSSensor benefits

� Buyers Guide -Refractoriesand Insulationnew entry

� Daily Lives -Globetrottingelectrowinningconsultant on a handshake

� 25thInternationalCopper eventin Hamburg

ISSN 2046-9438

www.copperworldwide.com

METALLIC MEDIA LTD

� Key Words: The future is not acommodity - neitherare our grandchildren

� Integratedproduction looms - tracking the migration route of smelter projects

� Spotlight: Aurubis and Luvatain the first of a wave of strategic realignments?

� The ECI calls forbetter EU resourceefficiency measures

� GIFA Preview –copper industrysuppliers

� In Profile:Bob Kickham -with heritageComes aresponsibility

� China report in every issue -with support from Beijing Antaike

� An inspiring eventin May – will itrevitalise a copper niche sector?

� People:Ankh and Outotec award winners

� Copper China -a new additionto the Chineseshow calendar

ISSN PENDING

www.copperworldwide.com

METALLIC MEDIA LTD

� Key Words:Views ofOyu Tolgoi

� News:Mergers createsynergiesBrazil investsHalf-year updates

� Special Reports:Semis gatheringSafety and Maintenance

� 8th COPPER/Cobreback to SantiagoOptimised smelter concentrate supply

� Rolling qualitycontrol issuesexpertly solved

� Alex Stewartreveals the artof inspectionand analysis

� Chunlei Coppergets rollingHot dip tinningMill contracts

� EVENTS – Three reviewedand four previewed

� China Review:2013 forecastsand projects

� CompanyProfile –FLOGEN STARgives recognition

� Buyers Guide –New entry inheat recovery

ISSN 2046-9438

METALLIC MEDIA LTD

www.copperworldwide.com

Copper Worldwide Vol 3 No 4

14 | QUALITY CONTROL www.copper worldwide.com

Since Alex Stewart International was founded in1982, it has experienced major growth both in sizeand in the variety of services offered. The ASInetwork of laboratories provides ISO 9001, 14001and 17025 accredited assaying and analyticalservices for base, minor and precious metals,including ores and concentrates, recycled scrapmetal, metallurgical complex materials,geochemical, and through its diversity toagriculture, also soft commodities such as soyabean and grain.

Alex Stewart, Chairman and Founder of ASI,really cares about his clients. With the opening ofthe new state of the art Aintree Inspection andAnalytical Laboratories in July 2013, with a staff ofmore than 50 people in the UK, cost-effectiveservices can be delivered without compromising onquality or responsiveness. The ASI global networknow spans 36 offices and 17 laboratories in over 35countries.

This visit begins with a round table discussionwith two generations of the Stewart family, sinceAlex’s son Graham is the Managing Director ofASI. Indicative of their shared passions are theLiverpool Football Club shirts and other sportsmemorabilia on the walls of their Head Office inAintree. This is reflected in the upbeat andwelcoming nature of all staff, personified byStephen Russell, ASI’s Commercial Executive, whogave Editor Chris Holding a guided tour of thenew facilities.

Leading edge analysisUpon arrival, samples are booked in by Paul

Jones who coordinates Sample Entry. Samplesreceived are matched to the instructions provided

by the client. Jackie Riddell, AdministrationSupervisor, and Jade Cole who also works in AssayAdministration, ensure that samples are alwaysaccompanied by their test sheet and all requiredresults are obtained by their due dates.

Many samples take a first step to the X-RayFluorescence Spectrometer Laboratory. Afluorescence scan determines principal and traceelement levels and this indicates the bestmethodology to employ later. The ISO certifiedsampling methods used by ASI guaranteehomogeneous, representative samples every time.In the Balance Room, Paula Connolly will weighout precise amounts of sample material forchemical analysis.

The Wet Chemistry laboratory, with its samplepreparation area and copper electrolysis (A and Bsamples) area, is an impressive sight. There are

Safe hands in inspection andanalysis services Celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2013, Alex Stewart International (ASI) has just expanded its metal and mineral

laboratory facilities at Aintree in Liverpool in the United Kingdom. Copper Worldwide reports exclusively here.

Accurate sample weighing in the Balance Room is managed by PaulaConnolly.

The Wet Chemistry Laboratory layout viewed from the upstairs landing area, with the state of the art fume extraction system in the background.

Graham and Alex Stewart at the Aintree Inspection and AnalyticalLaboratories opening ceremony in July 2013.

The electrolysis area in full operation (Inset: During electrolysis the copper deposits from the test solution onto a platinum mesh).

Copper Worldwide Vol 3 No 4

eight fume cupboards in the sample preparationarea, as acid solutions are in use. Qualifiedchemists utilise state of the art equipment to deliverthe most precise and prompt results. In theelectrolysis area, copper ions from the preparedsolution deposit onto a platinum mesh acting as acathode.

The Instrument Room contains two ICP-OES(Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical EmissionSpectroscopy) machines for multi-elemental ppmresults. An Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS)measures low levels of elements, whilst highprecision Titrator Units determine silver, chlorine,fluorine and ferro-alloys.

Nearby there is the Fire Assay Laboratory, andthree more fume cupboards, where sample flux isput into pots by Sean Maloney for precious metalanalysis using Fire Assay and Muffle furnaces.Here copper concentrates are assayed for copper,silver and gold content. A separate Furnace Roomis also operated for the lead based fluxes whichcome in.

The extensive laboratory facilities arecomplemented by a suite of integral modern firstfloor offices. The first door on the landing here isChief Chemist Desmond McMillan, who co-designed the overall laboratory together withGraham Stewart. Next is Adrian Mullany,Laboratory Manager for Metals, who handles dayto day operations. The next office is the InspectionsAdministration Office, the operations hub fromwhich Alex Stewart coordinates its globalinspection companies to supervise cargo loadingand discharge to ensure that cargo meetscontractual obligations.

Finally, the most important office for the businessis the one where Lorraine and Christine are basedlooking after client accounts.

Reasons to investInspection and analysis costs are minor compared

to the commercial value of a commodity, but peaceof mind is priceless. At ASI, traditional assayingmethods are combined with the latest technology,enabling the analysis of nearly 80 elements of theperiodic table to a high degree of precision, whileensuring clients receive results in the minimumtime.

Maintaining sector-leading competence is acornerstone of the ASI philosophy. It is notsurprising that services to governmental clients,such as Audit of mineral and hydrocarbonproducers, Certification of mineral exports, andControl of minerals in transit, have seen rapidexpansion in recent years. Alex Stewart’s Mineral

and Hydrocarbon Auditing Program assistsgovernments in determining the amount ofroyalties and taxes due from the companiesoperating in the country, and in the environmentalpreservation of the extraction areas viaenvironmental impact and contamination auditing.The Mineral Export Certification Programdetermines the correct quality and quantity ofmineral exports for duty and taxation purposes.

For minerals in transit, at inspection stations atborder control points, ASI inspects minerals onarrival, seals bags and containers, verifies weightlimits on trucks, performs radioactivity checks onthe minerals, and issues high-security transitcertificates identifying each vehicle and its cargo.

For minerals destined for refineries that are laterre-exported, ASI carries out the above borderchecks and transmits vehicle data to its refiningplant inspectors. They weigh and sample mineralson arrival, and use ASI in-country laboratories todetermine the valuable element quantities in eachshipment. To reconcile inputs and outputs, therefined product for re-exportation is also weighed,sampled and analysed to confirm that noextraneous products have been added.

Dedicated to qualityThe Commercial Services range includes

Environmental services and Geochemical analysisthrough its Geo-lab in Mendoza Argentina, whoalso design custom made sample preparationlaboratories, mobile and static for remote miningexploration locations anywhere in South America.

ASI offers both online quotation requests andonline tracking. For metals and minerals, the firmoffers the highest quality dedicated service for theinspection, weighing, sampling and precisionanalysis of minerals, ores and metals to the metal

industry, mining companies, traders, metalproducers and refiners, governments, banks andfinancial institutions, and the general public.

In addition to accurate weights, good delivery is akey factor in meeting LME contractual obligations.Strategically located inspection operations cover allmajor loading and discharge ports and refineriesfor base and non-ferrous metals including allleading South American, Asia Pacific andEuropean ports. Inspection Risk Management is anASI inspections service at both load port anddischarge port that ensures cargo is optimallyprotected. ASI inspectors are present throughoutloading and discharge. They can also assess vesselsfor shipworthiness.

Complete geochemical and commercial analyticalservices for the mining industry include fire assaywith AAS or gravimetric finish, trace metal analysisand multi-element analysis using XRF, ICP-OES orAAS, carbon sulphur analysis, gravity flotation,cyanidation, amalgamation, heap leach and bottleroll testing and performance of acid rock drainagestudies. In house expertise allows the company todesign, install, commission and staff samplepreparation facilities or full analytical laboratoriesat production, mine and exploration sitesworldwide.

Environmental services include advising andtesting on contaminated land surveys,environmental care plans and licences, pollutionrisk assessment, soil survey and clean up, and wastemanagement. ASI environmental laboratoriesworking to ISO standards are experienced inproviding certification to organic and non-organicchemical parameters for mining research projects.

Other services include quantity and qualitycertification for non-ferrous and electronic scrapincluding ISRI and GOST, and precious metalsanalytical, sampling and inspection services includeconcentrates, electronic scrap and PGM.Reader Reply No.43

www.copper worldwide.com QUALITY CONTROL | 15

Solutions awaiting and undergoing testing.

The ASI Liverpool Wet Chemistry Laboratory fume cupboard array.

Dave Harper, Inspections and Analysis Manager, on the left with Tom Dykhuizen, Inspections Supervisor hard at work in the Inspections Administration Office.