Platinum-Group Assay Standards Conference

How much is a gram per tonne of rhodium worth if two laboratories disagree on the number? This conference, hosted by the Shackleton Platinum Exchange, brings together assay labs, exchanges and producers to settle the standards.

Chief Assayer Imani Oduya presents the Guild's experience comparing field LIBS readings from the Spectra Assay Lance against laboratory fire assay on Belt ores, and proposes shared reference materials. Auction Director Inês Carvalho-Roy discusses how assay certainty affects claim valuations.

Registration is through the Exchange. The Guild will contribute calibration standards from its laboratory.

The conference ends with a vote on a draft standard for reporting field assays alongside laboratory results. If adopted, Spectra Assay Lance readings accompanied by AssayKit calibration files would be accepted as indicative grades in Exchange contracts, a change the Guild has argued for since 2184. Guild members attending can also tour the Exchange's assay laboratory.