Requirement and capability development
Sirius project · Chingola, Zambia
From outsourced analysis to in-country analytical capability
An exploration operation in Zambia relied on commercial laboratories in South Africa for gold and multi-element analysis. Average analytical turnaround time was approximately 60 days.
The operating question
Could in-country analytical capability shorten the information cycle while maintaining the required analytical capability?
Sending samples outside Zambia created a long information cycle between sampling and results. For an active exploration programme, the issue was how quickly reliable analytical information could get back to the people making decisions.
From requirement to operation
The response
Sirius assessed the analytical requirement and developed an in-country laboratory around expected sample demand and the required methods.
ASSESS → DESIGN → BUILD → COMMISSION → OPERATE
The work brought together workflow and infrastructure, equipment selection and installation, sample preparation, fire assay and ICP capability, recruitment and training, safety and quality systems, LIMS-supported sample tracking, commissioning and operational support.
Real project evidence
From requirement to routine operation
Training, construction, infrastructure, equipment installation and commissioning formed connected workstreams. This selected photographic record shows only the principal stages.
Construction
Infrastructure
Equipment and engineering
Commissioning to operation
Routine analytical operation
Operating laboratory
Operating evidence
The primary operating outcome
~60 days → ~10 days
Average analytical turnaround time
~6,000/month
Designed laboratory capacity
16 people
Operating laboratory team
Fire Assay + ICP
In-country analytical capability
The laboratory is operating, and Sirius continues to work with the team to monitor performance, identify constraints and improve the system.
The turnaround figures are established operating results expressed as approximate averages. Capacity is the laboratory’s designed capacity, not a claim of achieved monthly throughput. No quantified cost-reduction comparison is presented.
What changed
The project shortened the information cycle between sampling and the exploration decision.
Sample collection → Analysis → Result → Exploration decision
- Starting position
- Outsourced gold and multi-element analysis involved an average turnaround of approximately 60 days.
- Sirius response
- Assess, design, build, commission and operate in-country analytical capability. Project photographs document the facility, people and analytical capability.
- Operating result
- Current operating performance averages approximately 10 days analytical turnaround time. The result is a shorter analytical information cycle and an operating laboratory in Zambia.
- Evidence basis
- The approximate turnaround averages are established operating results. Designed capacity and team size are supplied project figures. No cost-reduction comparison is presented.
One operating system
What this demonstrates
A laboratory’s performance depends on demand, workflow, capacity, equipment, people, quality and information systems working together. Sirius designs and improves these elements as one operating system.