What CDN Resource Laboratories does

CDN Resource Laboratories Ltd. is a privately held Canadian producer of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) for the global mining and exploration industry, founded in 1981 and headquartered in Langley, British Columbia. The company prepares standards from real ores or blends of real ore with ore concentrates sourced from active mining deposits worldwide, applying a proprietary matrix-matched preparation methodology (85-90% passing 75 microns) that the company argues replicates commercial laboratory sample preparation more accurately than the finer (<54 micron) grinding used by competitors. The catalog spans 100+ SKUs across gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, platinum group metals, rare earth, tungsten, lithium, graphite, multi-element, copper concentrate, and blank standards, supplemented by a custom CRM manufacturing service and a higher-tier Smart CRM line launched in 2025.

CDN holds ISO 17034 accreditation (A2LA Certificate #5510-01) as a Certified Reference Material Producer and ISO 9001:2015 quality certification, credentials required for supply into accredited analytical laboratories. Commercial activity is conducted through direct enterprise field sales, a regional LATAM coverage team led by a dedicated VP, e-commerce channels under development, and presence at industry events such as PDAC. Customers are commercial geochemical assay laboratories and the QA/QC functions of mining and exploration companies; pricing is unit-based at $55-$900/kg depending on matrix complexity (with rare earth at the top of the range), packaged in 10g to 2kg configurations. The company operates with a small team (1-10 employees) and has no disclosed external funding.

Name

CDN Resource Laboratories

Legal name

CDN Resource Laboratories Ltd.

Website

https://cdnlabs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CDN Resource Laboratories produces ISO 17034-accredited Certified Reference Materials for global mining, exploration, and geochemical assay laboratories, supplying matrix-matched standards sourced from real ores across gold, base metal, critical mineral, and battery-material categories.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Certified Reference Materials

akta.pro primary industry

Reference Materials & Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) for Food Matrices (AFALAKAD)

Keywords

• Certified reference materials
• Mining assay standards
• Geochemical laboratory supplies
• Matrix-matched CRMs
• Mining QA/QC standards

Headquarters

HQ city

Langley

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. CRM Product Sales: Sale of standardized Certified Reference Materials including gold standards, multi-element standards, copper-gold standards, platinum group metals, rare earth elements, tungsten, lithium, graphite, blank standards, and copper concentrate standards. Products sold in various packaging configurations from 10g to 2kg quantities.
2. Custom CRM Manufacturing: Custom standards production according to client specifications and requirements. Price of $55/kg includes preparation and packaging in heat-sealed plastic bags (2kg lots). Excludes round-robin assaying, certification, and transportation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CDN Resource Laboratories manufactures and sells Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) for the mining and exploration industry. Standards are prepared from real ores or blends of real ore with ore concentrates, covering gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, platinum group metals, rare earth elements, tungsten, lithium, graphite, and multi-element matrices. The company also offers custom CRM manufacturing services tailored to client specifications.

Product overview

CDN Resource Laboratories is a producer of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) for the mining and exploration industry. Their portfolio includes Gold Standards (GS Series), Gold-Silver-Copper-Molybdenum Standards (CM, SS, CGS Series), Multi-Element Standards (ME Series), Platinum Group Metal Standards (PGMS Series), Rare Earth Standards (RE Series), Tungsten Standards (W Series), Lithium Standards (Li Series), Graphite Standards (GR Series), Copper Concentrate Standards (MPC Series), Silver Eagle Standards, and Blank-Lithogeochem-Low Grade Standards. All standards are prepared from real ores or blends of real ore with ore concentrates. The company has introduced Smart CRMs as an enhanced product line featuring matrix-matched reference materials. Custom CRM manufacturing is available at $55/kg. The company operates under ISO 17034 accreditation and ISO 9001 certification.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Smart CRMs: Advanced certified reference materials with enhanced analytical capabilities for the mining industry
• Dr. Dirt

Products and services

• Gold-Silver-Copper-Molybdenum Standards (CM, SS, CGS Series) Certified reference materials for gold, silver, copper, and molybdenum assay verification, sourced from porphyry and other deposit types including Minto Mine, Copper Mountain, Brucejack, and Blackwater projects. Sold to mining companies and assay laboratories.
• Gold Standards (GS Series) High-grade gold reference materials including Carlin-type deposits and greenstone belt samples for fire assay and photon assay verification. Targeted at gold mining and exploration customers.
• Multi-Element Standards (ME Series) Multi-element certified reference materials covering oxide matrices, sulfide matrices, massive sulfide deposits, epithermal deposits, and greenstone deposits. Includes Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn, As, Pt, Pd, Co, Ni analysis. Used by geochemical laboratories performing multi-element assays.
• Smart CRMs Enhanced certified reference materials with matrix-matched properties for superior accuracy. Covers porphyry, Carlin, and oxide matrices with comprehensive element and oxide certification. Sold to mining assay laboratories.
• Platinum Group Metal Standards (PGMS Series) Certified reference materials for platinum, palladium, gold, silver, copper, cobalt, and nickel in PGM ore matrices. Includes CDN-PGMS-31 through CDN-PGMS-38. Used by PGM mining and exploration labs.
• Rare Earth Standards (RE Series) Reference materials for rare earth element analysis including CDN-RE-1201, CDN-RE-1202, and CDN-RE-1203. Targeted at rare earth mining and exploration customers.
• Tungsten Standards (W Series) Tungsten reference materials including CDN-W-2, W-3, W-4, W-5, W-6, and W-8 for tungsten, copper, and gold assay verification in oxide and sulfide matrices.
• Blank-Lithogeochem-Low Grade Standards Low-level reference materials for blank analysis and lithogeochemical characterization including CDN-GEO-1901 and CDN-BL-10T. Used by laboratories for contamination monitoring.
• Lithium Standards (Li Series) Reference materials for lithium and boron analysis including CDN-Li-1 through CDN-Li-6 for battery and mineral exploration applications.
• Graphite Standards (GR Series) Graphite carbon reference materials including CDN-GR-1, GR-2, GR-3, and GR-4 for graphitic carbon assay verification.
• Copper Concentrate Standards (MPC Series) Copper concentrate reference materials including CDN-MPC-1601, MPC-1602, MPC-1701, MPC-2301, and MPC-2302 for concentrate grade verification.
• Silver Eagle Standards Silver reference materials including CDN-SE-1 and CDN-SE-2 for silver assay verification.
• Custom CRM Manufacturing Custom certified reference material manufacturing service at $55/kg, preparing standards up to and including packaging in heat-sealed plastic bags (in 2kg lots). Excludes round-robin assaying, certification, and transportation. Available to mining and exploration clients with unique specifications.

Named customers12 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• The Particle GroupminorOthersCDN Resource Laboratory is a proud member of The Particle Group, an organizational membership providing network and resources within the particle/analytical science community.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• CANMET Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories: Canadian government mining research laboratory under Natural Resources Canada, which has historically produced reference materials for the mining sector. A broader institutional peer with overlapping but not commercially-driven CRM activity.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Global analytical instruments and consumables company producing reagents, standards, and certified reference materials as part of a much larger portfolio. Adjacent competitor at the broader lab-supply level, though not a specialist in mining-matrix CRMs.
• NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology): US government agency producing Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) across many industries including ores, metals, and geological matrices. Operates much more broadly than CDN but is the benchmark reference-material producer globally.

Direct peers

• Alpha Resources: US-based manufacturer of certified reference materials for inorganic analytical chemistry, including metals, ores, and combustion reagents. Comparable to CDN as a CRM-only specialist serving mining and analytical labs.
• Brammer Standard Company: US-based reference material producer for metals and alloys. Overlaps with CDN in metallic CRM production and shares the ISO 17034-style accreditation positioning, though with broader industrial-metals scope.
• Bureau of Analysed Samples (BAS): UK-based producer of certified reference materials since 1936, including BCS and EUR series for iron, steel, and non-ferrous alloys. Comparable to CDN as an established, accredited CRM producer for the metals/mining sector.
• OREAS (Ore Research & Exploration): Australian-based producer of certified reference materials for the mining and exploration industry, with matrix-matched CRMs prepared from real geological materials. Directly competes with CDN in gold, base metal, and lithium reference materials.
• Rocklabs (Scion): New Zealand-based producer of certified reference materials for mining and exploration laboratories, including the historic Rocklabs CRM product line. Directly comparable to CDN as a specialist mining CRM producer.
• Geostats Pty Ltd: Australian CRM producer specializing in reference materials for the geochemical and mining sectors. Closely comparable to CDN in product scope (gold, base metals, multi-element) and matrix-matched preparation approach.

Others

• ALS Limited: Global testing, inspection, and certification company operating assay and geochemical laboratories. Primarily a CDN customer/end-user of CRMs for its own assay services, with limited internal CRM production — included as a relevant ecosystem participant rather than direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubecdnlabs.com/dr-dirt

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CDN Resource Laboratories