Mineral and petroleum mining in Guyana is to significantly benefit from certified laboratory services with the arrival of Activation Laboratories Limited (Actlabs) within the next two months.
Actlabs’ presence in Guyana should see the reduction of the time and cost of geochemical, industrial and environmental testing to be done at the highest standards.
Speaking to Stabroek News, Kampta Persaud, a senior official at the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) said that after some years of pitching the idea to the company, they have agreed to set up shop in Guyana and will be located somewhere on the East Coast of Demerara.
Persaud said that the GGMC does geological field projects and has been using Actlabs for the past 12 years to test samples sent to the Ankaster Ontario location. Persaud said that through meeting officials from the company on visits to Canada for the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada annual conventions over the past three years, he would talk to them about setting up here. He said that last year March founder of the lab Dr Eric Hoffman, expressed a willingness to come to Guyana and then the wheels were set in motion to make that a reality.
Persaud said that the lab in Guyana will make certified results easily available and having more labs in the country will make for easy comparison of results.
Actlabs’ services cover many fields, including geochemical, petroleum, industrial minerals, forensic, pharmaceutical & clinical, environmental & occupational health, agricultural and materials testing. Their laboratories operate as independent entities managed by local laboratory managers under the guidance of a management committee. According to Actlabs’ website, the company was established in 1987 by Dr. Hoffman, an economic geochemist, in Brantford, Ontario and within two years moved to a modern facility in Ancaster, Ontario. The laboratory began by providing Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) to the academic, government and mineral exploration sectors.
“In little over a decade, the Actlabs Group has become the world’s leading laboratory group providing Neutron Activation [services]. We continue to invest heavily in Research and Development of new products so that our clients can be at the forefront of exploration technology,” Actlabs said on its website. (Johann Earle)
