Ivanhoe Australia's exploration and development drill sampling procedures comprise collection of core or reverse circulation (RC) samples for laboratory analyses. Core samples within mineralised zones are generally taken on continuous one-metre intervals down each drill hole, or on smaller lengths over narrow geological units, for large disseminated or weakly mineralised zones sample lengths may increase to a maximum of two metres. Samples of one-half of NQ and HQ core or one-quarter of PQ core are taken for analysis. The core is marked with a continuous cutting line along the middle, parallel to the long axis, for the purpose of preventing a sampling bias during splitting. Splitting is done with a rock saw flushed continually with fresh water. RC samples are taken on continuous one-metre intervals down each drill hole, in some cases samples are combined over a two metre interval. Approximately 1/8th of the volume of available rock chips that are emitted from a cyclone are split and collected from a rig-based cone splitter.

Sample dispatches comprise 70 samples for core drilling and 100 samples for RC drilling. Each dispatch of core samples comprises 60 routine samples, four Certified Reference Materials (CRMs), two Field Blanks, two Crushed Duplicates, and two Pulp Duplicates. On advanced exploration and development projects, one Field Duplicate comprising one-half of the split core is collected. RC sample dispatches comprise 93 routine samples, one Certified Reference Material, two Field Duplicates, three Field Blanks, and one Pulp Duplicate. The reference materials, field duplicates, and blanks are randomly inserted for core during sampling, whereas for RC drilling positions are fixed but non-sequential. Crushed and pulp duplicates are split and inserted at the laboratory during sample preparation.

CRMs comprise commercially purchased and in-house, matrix-matched standards. Field Blanks comprise material collected from the nearby Mount Dore granite, which were tested to ensure they are barren. Reference materials are certified for gold, copper, molybdenum, and/or rhenium and used for quality control monitoring of the assay data, Field Blanks are used to ensure that there is no contamination or sample mix-ups, and duplicates are used to ensure that there is no sampling bias and precision levels are appropriate for the styles of mineralisation and stage of sample preparation.

Samples are placed in plastic bags, sealed, and individual dispatches placed in large, labelled shipping bags that are secured and sealed with numbered tamper-proof security tags. Shipments of samples are transported under contractor custody to ALS Laboratory Group's Mineral Division at Mount Isa. Sample submission forms provided by Ivanhoe Australia and returned by ALS confirm the security tag numbers and if there has been any tampering of the shipping bags. Samples are prepared at ALS Mount Isa laboratory and assayed there and at the ALS Townsville and Brisbane laboratories. At the request of Ivanhoe Australia, any equipment used for preparing mineralised samples is flushed with barren rock before processing another sample. ALS operates in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 under Nata accreditation No. 825.

Samples are assayed for gold by a 30 gram fire assay with an AAS finish, and 35 element geochemical analyses are routinely completed using an aqua regia digestion with an ICP-AES finish. Over limit assays of greater than 10,000 ppm are conducted for copper, zinc, and lead using an aqua regia digestion. For silver, over limit assays of greater than 100 ppm of silver are conducted using an aqua regia digestion, whereas molybdenum has an over limit of 200 ppm uses a four acid digestion. On advanced exploration and development projects, assays for copper, molybdenum and/or rhenium are regularly completed using aqua regia or four acid digestions with ICP-AES or AAS finishes.

Upon receipt of assay results, values for CRM samples are tabulated and compared to those from established Round Robin programs. Assay results that deviate from Round Robin program results beyond pre-set tolerance limits are rejected and subject to re-assay. Tolerance limits for reference materials are set at two and three standard deviations from the Round Robin mean value or +/- 5% for copper in some matrix-matched molybdenum CRMs. A CRM fails when an assay is beyond the three-standard deviation limit and any two consecutively assayed CRMs fail when CRM assays are beyond the two-standard deviation limit on the same side of the mean. These limits are used because if an analytical system is under control, there is only a 1% chance that a CRM would return assays exceeding three standard deviations, or a 0.625% chance that two CRMs in adjacent batches would exceed two standard deviations on the same side of the mean. A Field Blank fails if the assay is over a pre-set limit of 0.06 g/t Au, 0.06 % Cu, 10 ppm Mo, or 0.2 ppm Re. A barren override is applied to batches of samples that comprise samples within insignificant values, which means that these samples are not subject to re-assaying.

Ivanhoe Australia also performs check assays on a regular basis at an independent third party laboratory. Samples are collected on a regular basis at the rate of four per dispatch of 70 samples or 7% of routine samples for advanced exploration and development projects.

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. regularly conducts onsite reviews and internal audits of the operations of Ivanhoe Australia to ensure procedural compliance for maintaining industry standard best practices. These reviews include regular audits of ALS laboratories.