Quality

Precision, Accuracy, & Reliability in Testing

Commitment to Quality

American Assay is committed to performing the highest degree of quality at every stage of the preparation and analytical processes for geochemical and environmental testing. We continually strive to provide testing services that not only meet the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and NDEP, but also exceed our clients’ expectations. AAL maintains a Quality Management System. This includes a broad Quality Assurance (QA) Program which manages overall quality at an operational level between departments, and a Quality Control (QC) Program aimed at ensuring reliable results for the services performed at the job level. All aspects of the day-to-day operations and services shall be conducted in accordance with set policies and procedures. Our Quality Management System reflects the corporation’s total commitment to maintaining safety, efficacy and reliability in obtaining data and releasing results. Below is a brief overview to highlight the degree to which we continually ensure that quality is maintained to ensure that the data we provide is precise, accurate and reliable.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Accreditation

ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation highlights our laboratory’s ability to demonstrate that we competently operate our procedures and generate valid results. ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is an international reference for testing and calibration, set to give independent laboratories the opportunity to continually improve their process, meet national requirements and give their customers the confidence in the results provided. ISO is applicable to all organizations performing tests and producing certificates; such as laboratories, governments, universities, etc. ISO inspects a broad scope within the lab, including (but not limited to) method SOPs, training, information technology (IT) and safety/ethics. Laboratory customers, regulatory authorities and accreditation bodies may also use it in confirming or recognizing the competence of laboratories. AAL proudly partakes in ISO accreditation so that we can continually confirm our quality meets international regulations.

Process Management

In order to achieve the highest level of results, AAL is focused on maintaining and improving our Quality Management System. We spend considerable time developing and refining our processes to ensure our customers have the reliable results necessary to make mining and exploration decisions. AAL has many quality and safety procedures in place to make sure all samples are processed in a routine and responsible manner. Below is an overview of some of the key areas we focus on for process management.

1

Procedures and Training

We have standard operating procedures (SOPs) ensuring that our methods are followed accurately every time. AAL is staffed with competent and qualified employees. Many of our employees have worked here for multiple decades. This collective experience gives us a unique advantage in the ability to maintain equipment, improve methodologies and continually adapt our quality program to encompass new developments in science and technology. SOPs are provided to new employees and training logs are continuously maintained to ensure that all staff feel competent, comfortable and safe when performing various procedures. We encourage and support external training and certification of our technical staff. We also ensure that staff have a comprehensive understanding of the safety hazards they may be exposed to. All staff participates in safety training, which may range from understanding how to properly use safety equipment (i.e. PPE, safety showers, fire extinguishers) to practicing risk aversion (i.e. clean-up procedures, repetitive strain injury (RSI) prevention, or proper handling of instruments/ machinery). By maintaining strict SOPs, training logs and retaining experienced staff, we can ensure that our employees can prioritize safety and quality in their work.

2

Quality Assurance (QA) Program

Quality Assurance is a systematic approach to ensure that lab activities are performed in accordance with approved procedures, resulting in a high degree of confidence that the data provided will be representative of the samples submitted. QA activities, such as SOPs or training logs, are intended to limit the introduction of errors. Data and results compiled must be valid and properly documented. Some documentation includes chain of custody forms, submittals, cutsheets, laboratory data sheets, equipment maintenance/ calibration logs, training records, etc. These QA activities are maintained as documentation of the QA Monitoring Program.

For years, AAL has been actively building a customized Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) to meet our unique challenges at the lab. The customization of the system helps ensure user friendliness, auditable tacking and advanced instrumental data integration. This system monitors QC checks within each job, as well as, monitoring broad CRM performance over time. Our LIMS system is modernized ensuring data is safe and secure with onsite/offshore teams monitoring the database. To see more information regarding our new LIMS system, please view the About Us page.

AAL also quantifies our quality performance by participating in 3rd party inter-laboratory round-robin and proficiency testing. We participate in African Minerals (AMIS), Ore Research & Exploration (OREAS), International Association of Geoanalysts (IAG), U.S. Geological Survey and others. These round robin programs help ensure that our testing and results are falling into the confidence intervals set by the reference programs.

3

Quality Control (QC) Program

Quality Control is the mechanism through which QA program achieves its goals. The primary objective of QC is to control and characterize any errors associated with the collected data. QC activities, such as inserting sample duplicates, certified reference materials (CRMs) and blanks are intended to provide information required to characterize any errors in the data. Of our 72-sample batch size, we insert 2 blanks, 3 CRMs and 6 duplicates. At the minimum batch size (Ex. 1 sample), there is at least 1 blank, 1 CRM and 1 duplicate. If we encounter variation outside of set tolerances for these controls, then repeat or rerun analysis is implemented by our QC team to quantify the variation observed. In Fire Assay, we may analyze a group of samples around and including the control to see if there was an analytical problem, a swap or a sampling problem. We have qualified chemists and database management systems in place to review anomalies in the data. If 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. Depending on what stage the problem may have occurred, either during the preparation or analytical stages, will determine whether the batch of samples are reprepared or reanalyzed at the instrument. These steps help ensure that the finalized report sent to our clients have reliable, precise and accurate results.

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