A century in the service of metal.

Roots in Vieille Montagne

Founded to support internal production control, ensuring ores, concentrates and refined products met the most demanding international standards.

Vieille Montagne — one of the world's first large-scale zinc producers — and Union Minière, the Belgian non-ferrous group in copper, cobalt, zinc, lead and precious metals.

The Union Minière era

Vieille Montagne merged into Union Minière; Bachelet Laboratories became central to a global non-ferrous ecosystem — assay control, technical arbitration, sampling supervision and analysis.

A reference for neutrality

Methodological discipline in umpire work and complex polymetallic analysis — frequently appointed as reference lab in multi-party contractual assays.

An independent service provider

Evolved from an internal laboratory into an independent commercial provider, serving mining companies, smelters, traders and refiners worldwide.

ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation

Formal recognition of our analytical precision and quality-management system.

LME certification

London Metal Exchange listing — strengthening our credibility in international metal trading.

Operations begin in Chile

A quality-control laboratory established at the Codelco Ventanas site — serving Latin American mining and export hubs, with supervision and sampling extended across South America and China.

An expansion laboratory in Belgium

Acquisition of an adjacent laboratory building at our Belgian site — adding analytical capacity and dedicated space for growing sample volumes.

100 years, still independent

Recognised internationally for supervision & sampling, independent assay & umpire services, complex polymetallic analysis, and technical arbitration in international trade.