MATERIAL
Composition and form
What minerals or feedstocks are present? Which elements or compounds carry value? What unwanted species travel with them?
01 / RESOURCE
What do you
actually have?
A resource description is useful only when it helps define a recoverable product. Begin with the material and its variability.
SPECIMEN / RF 001Not a geological sample. Illustration only.
01 / CHARACTERIZATION
One assay is a clue.
A dataset is a decision tool.
A representative program considers grade, mineralogy, moisture, particle size, impurities and how those attributes change across the material. It also records sample provenance, analytical method and chain of custody.
RESOURCE DOSSIER
The minimum useful questions.
VARIABILITY
Continuity and range
How many samples exist, from where, and over what area or operating period? Are outliers understood?
ACCESS
Physical reality
What are the transport distances, power and water needs, land constraints, and seasonal limits?
TESTING
Bench to pilot
Has a recovery test been run on representative material, with mass balance and an independent laboratory?
OWNERSHIP
Rights and obligations
Who owns the resource, permits, data and potential byproducts? What agreements govern access?
RESIDUE
What remains
What happens to tailings, process water and residuals? Early answers matter to the route and economics.
FIELD GUIDE
Follow the material, not the adjective.
Words such as high grade, strategic or battery ready should be supported by defined analytical results and a product specification. A promising resource may still need extensive processing before a buyer can use it.
Continue to processing pathways ↗A BETTER HANDOFF
Build a source file others can test.
Keep original laboratory reports, sampling locations, date, methodology, mass balance and assumptions together. Record uncertainty in the same document as the opportunity.
Create a first project brief ↗