EMED Mining Public Ltd (AIM: EMED) said it has handed over its existing laboratory facilities at Minas de Rio Tinto in Andalucia to ALS Laboratory Group which plans to establish a new Mine Environmental Control Laboratory in the Iberian Pyrite Belt to provide services to the growing mining industry in the area as well as other international clients.
ALS plans to refurbish and expand the facilities which are positioned next to the Rio Tinto mine. The laboratory is currently owned by EMED Tartessus, title holder of the industrial complex.
ALS plans to develop the facilities to accredited ISO 17025 level by working with ENAC, the Spanish national accreditation body. This process has already started and will be completed in the near future.
EMED and ALS have a long standing relationship, with ALS providing EMED Mining with both environmental and mineral exploration analytical services in several other countries in Europe. EMED Mining played a significant role in ALS's decision to come to Rio Tinto.
ALS initially intended to establish a laboratory in Lisbon, Portugal. However, EMED Mining offered its existing laboratory facilities to ALS plus the possibility of working together in the future when the Rio Tinto project is approved.
ALS Laboratory Group provides a broad range of services in the fields of mineral exploration, mining, environmental monitoring and other fields. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Australia’s Campbell Brothers Ltd (ASX: CPB). It is present in over 130 locations in 40 countries and employs more than 4,700 people.
With the suggestion and support of EMED, ALS opened a mineral exploration laboratory in Sevilla in June of last year, which now provides services to exploration companies operating in Western Europe and North West Africa.