The overall sample volume decline was partially offset by strong price management and an increased uptake of value-added services by mining clients though.
Half-yearly underlying earnings before interest and tax increased 0.2% to $161 million for the six months to September 30.
The overall margin contracted slightly by 18bps to 29.6%, supported by the continued growth of downstream activities.
All businesses excluding geochemistry delivered strong organic growth.
Coal had strong organic growth and margin improvement due to volume recovery in the period.
Coal prices remained buoyant and the business stayed focused on operational efficiencies and revenue growth.
Coal EBIT represented approximately 1.5% of the company's EBIT.
ALS chief executive Malcolm Deane said during the first half of the 2023-24 financial year, the commodities division continued to show it was a key enabler and benefactor of the global electrification trend and energy transition.
"Despite softer sample volumes, we have seen a persistent and structural change in demand for metals associated with battery storage and electrification, as evidenced in the performance of both our geochemistry and metallurgy businesses," he said.
"The increased client demand for our industry-leading high-performance method testing and value-added services has supported our strong market-share growth in downstream operations, leveraging our unique and distinct operating model of the minerals division.
"This has enabled our geochemistry business to successfully minimise the overall cyclicality of its earnings."
Geochemistry was able to minimise the impact of softer volumes in the period with good price discipline, increased uptake of premium value-added services, strong cost management, and effective capacity planning.
Geochemistry margins were resilient in the period, remaining above 33% due to strategic growth in downstream activities and investment in innovation, such as high-performance methods.
Metallurgy achieved strong organic growth driven by strong mining activity in energy and battery-related metals, new project wins and overall market share gains.
The pipeline of projects remains high, particularly in testing services for battery-related metals.
