Sulphide is pretty obvious. With hand held XRF it's pretty...

Sulphide is pretty obvious. With hand held XRF it's pretty instantaneous to get an idea whether it's any good or not. These are just spot values for a piece of core the size of an old 1c piece (showing my age ). Assays for grade over width would take 2-3 weeks turnaround from drill to release to market. As to what is a significant number....... how long is a piece of string?

It all comes down to what's known as the nickel tenor - how much nickel the sulphide contains, or roughly how much of the sulphide is pentlandite the nickel sulphide mineral. Not to be confused with grade which is how much nickel is in the whole rock - sulphide and barren waste around and between the sulphide. If the tenors are good then the grade and the concentrate will be good. If the tenor is cr@p, well, you get the idea.