Getting started with MMI™

There are four fairly simple steps to carrying out an MMI™ soil survey.

1. Sampling
   Sampling can be done on a regular grid (e.g.100m x 50m spacings) or an irregular grid. In both cases GPS coordinates should be used.  Coverage should extend from ground suspected to be anomalous off onto background. Samples at each site should in general be taken from 10-25cm below the soil interface. Approx 250g of coarsely sieved sample is required. No sample preparation is required.
   
   
   
   Each sample should be labeled with a unique code, placed in a zip-lock plastic bag, and the position coordinates recorded.
   
   
2. Analysis
   When all samples have been collected they are sent to a registered MMI™ laboratory, or a receiving depot for one of those laboratories (see laboratory contacts).
   Select the elements you require to be analyzed, or select the large 40 plus element suite. Costs for this vary from A$20-A35 per sample depending on the number of elements. The laboratory will do the extraction and the analysis.
   
   
3. Results
   In approximately 3 weeks you will receive a set of analysis figures, arranged by sample and by element. You will also receive some quality control data, and this should be first inspected, along with assay results for any control standards included with the samples. When this has been done you are ready to inspect and interpret your data. Unless otherwise stated the results will be in parts per billion (ppb).
   
   
4. Interpretation
   Insert the coordinates for each sample into the results spreadsheet. You are now ready to plot the results for each element in a proprietary plotting program such as Surfer, MapInfo (+Discover) or Geosoft.  There are various ways of plotting the results; the plot below is from Surfer using the ppb data from the analysis spreadsheet.
   
   
   
   
   Other methods of plotting and interpretation are available. Details of these methods and procedures, and significance of results are outlined elsewhere on this website.
   

Mobile Metal Ion (MMI™) Technology - High Resolution Soil Geochemistry
for Mineral Exploration

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