We continually strive to provide testing services that meet or exceed the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025, and to satisfy the needs of the customers, regulatory authorities and organizations providing recognition. We are committed to providing professional practices of safe and reliable chemical analysis.
Quality control is an integral part of all of the corporation’s management testing. It is not a separate element or function; each and every aspect of the day-to-day operations and services of the corporation shall be conducted in accordance with the quality policies. There are no exceptions to this commitment. Each and every employee, including management, is expected to understand and work towards our quality commitment. Success requires satisfied customers. Our Quality Management System reflects the corporation’s total commitment to achieving the goal of meeting the needs of our customers efficiently and safely. We value your inputs, so please share your thoughts with us about how we can further improve the quality of our services.
ISO Accreditation
ISO/IEC 17025:2017 specifies the general requirements for the competence to carry out tests and/or calibrations, including sampling. It covers testing and calibration performed using standard methods, non-standard methods, and laboratory-developed methods. It is applicable to all organizations performing tests and/or calibrations. These include, for example, first-, second- and third-party laboratories, and laboratories where testing and/or calibration forms part of inspection and product certification. ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is for use by laboratories in developing their management system for quality, administrative and technical operations. Laboratory customers, regulatory authorities and accreditation bodies may also use it in confirming or recognizing the competence of laboratories. ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is not intended to be used as the basis for certification of laboratories. The dynamic QMS we utilize is monitored, maintained, and implemented by the ISO 17025 Quality Coordinator, based on the ISO/IEC 17025 International Standard, through the ongoing supervision of the procedures and objectives outlined in this Quality Manual. This administrative responsibility complements but in no way reduces or removes the technical responsibility of managers, supervisors, or employees of their quality control duties. Quality is everyone’s business. There are no exceptions. Any problems that cannot be resolved through normal interdepartmental channels are immediately referred to top management.
Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Approval
Our technological advancements and commitment to excellence have granted us approval from the State of Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) to conduct environmental testing. NDEP approval means we follow the stringent guidelines the NDEP has set for procedures within our scope. Every step is carefully controlled to meet regulation. Our rigorous Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and Process Management have turned our company into a leader in Geochemical and now Environmental Analysis. Let us apply our guaranteed turn around times, high production capability, and expert chemists to your environmental needs. Here at American Assay Laboratories we know how important it is to not only have quality results, but to have them in a time and cost efficient manner. See our Environmental Services for our list of approved analyses.
Process Management
In order to achieve the highest level of results, companies must focus critically on managing and improving their processes. We spend considerable time developing and refining our processes to ensure our customers have the reliable results necessary for good decisions. Below is an overview of some of the key areas we focus on for process management.
Procedures, Training, and Proficiency
We have documented procedures ensuring that our processes are effectively completed while accentuating quality and safety. AAL is staffed with competent, qualified, and specifically trained employees. As a part of our continued commitment to improvement and compliance with our ISO Accreditation, we encourage and support external training and certification of our technical staff. Participating in inter-laboratory round-robin and proficiency testing provides a level of measure for the precision of our laboratory processes. We participate in CANMET PTP-MAL certification analyses twice a year, GEOSTATS testing twice per year, SMA (US and Canada) twice per year, and IOAG testing twice per year.
Quality Control
The first pass quality control is the included in-house, international standards and recorded value for sample results to be valid. Our initial quality assurance is a 10% sample duplicates called controls (6 per 60 assays). The reproducibility of the controls is project specific. In the initial stages of a project, if we encounter a variation of greater than 20% in a control sample, we analyze a group of samples around and including the control to see if there was an analytical problem, a swap, or a sampling problem. If there was an analytical problem, we rerun the problem batch. If there was a sample preparation problem we re-prepare and re-analyze the problem batch.
Quality Assurance
We have trained and qualified chemists who review the analysis data and look for anomalies in the results. We look for any unexpected results and inconsistencies, as well as checking elements that correlate or have potential interferences in the data. When the data from the equipment appears in question, then to ensure the highest quality results we will run select samples again and compare the data to the previous run results.
Process Improvement
As a part of our ISO Accreditation, at American Assay Laboratories, we are continually seeking all types of feedback, internal and external, to improve all aspects of the company. Recent improvements have come by way of transitioning the entire company process to 72 assay positions, upgraded Cetac autosamplers capable of holding 6 racks and fast pumping system for sample introduction, and use of ICP-AES instrumentation for analysis of all production samples for improved quality process monitoring.
Information Technology
We’ve invested heavily in developing a state-of-the-art integrated system to run our operation. We have implemented a new LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System). Because our systems are so tightly integrated there are fewer opportunities for errors to be introduced into the processes. We are able to collect far more data than ever before and begin to look for correlations which can further improve our analysis methods.
Research-Driven Process
Development
We pride ourselves on being the most comprehensive assay laboratory in the area housing an extensive line-up of analytical instrumentation including ICP-AES, ICP-MS, XRD, XRF, SEM, DMA, TerraSpec, FTIR, Raman spectrometer, and C S analyzer. Such a variety of analytical options provides additional information to help solve specialized problems. The research and development team is constantly looking for improvements in instrumentation and equipment to improve the process in both quality and speed for accurate analyses and rapid turn-around times.
