Gambling on the Drill Bit, page-45

...timeframe on assays..

Depends on timing and/or how long the que is....there are only so many assay companies and mining activity has greatly picked up...If you are lucky it could be 2 weeks, but generally you should count on 4-6 and sometimes even 8 weeks to get assays returned...Then the company needs to spend a week or so determining what those assays mean as far as that company's resource is before they release a new announcement...

...can an updated be given before they are completed by looking at the core samples?..

Yes...an update that says there is cobalt in the core...Either seen visually or XRF handheld machines can tell...but what can't be told is what the assays will show which is percentages and true widths...So some companies like to give an update like this before they receive the actual drill assays...But not many companies do this..