Comparison with the JORC Code/Qualified Persons StatementComparison with the JORC Code
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Qualified Persons Statement
Comparison with the JORC Code[edit]
The National Instrument 43-101 requires substantially more technical disclosure to the market than the equivalent JORC Code, because the JORC Code is primarily a code for reporting the status of a mineral resource, whereas the NI 43-101 is a code of securities disclosure. This distinction is based on the derivation of the two codes: the JORC Code is derived from the Joint Ore Reporting Committee, an independent mineral industry body formed from industry professional associations; The NI 43-101 is a code derived from the Canadian Securities Authorities. The JORC Code, were it equal with the NI 43-101 would be derived from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, not the relevant industry bodies.
The technical information required in a Reserve declaration under the NI 43-101 exceeds that within the JORC Code, primarily by stipulating that certain geological parameters of the mineral reserve must be presented within a report, published in full, and presented in a particular way. Conversely, JORC Compliant technical reports are not commonly published in full upon the Australian Stock Exchange as this is not required by Australian regulatory authorities. Therefore, often a summary of the key points is published, which can often preserve commercially sensitive information, and often this could allow deleterious information to remain out of the public forum.
Qualified Persons Statement[edit]
The instrument requires that a "qualified person" be attributed to the information. This Qualified Person, in the spirit of the National Instrument, is required to be a reputable professional who is knowledgeable of the mineral property concerned, and who has sufficient experience and qualifications to make the statements which are made within the report. Often the Qualified Person need not be the author of the report, but in attributing the report as being compliant with the National Instrument, they are vouching for it. This is a matter of professional integrity and carries legal risk, as misleading statements can result in legal sanctions in Canadian and other jurisdictions.
A qualified person is defined in the National Instrument as:
- is an engineer or geoscientist with at least five years of experience in mineral exploration, mine development or operation or mineral project assessment, or any combination of these;
- has experience relevant to the subject matter of the mineral project and the technical report; and
- is in good standing with a professional association and, in the case of a foreign association (is of recognised stature within that Organisation)
The requirement for a Qualified Person in the NI 43-101 is different from that required by the JORC Code, and the SAMREC and SAMVAL Codes, wherein the person must have 5 years experience relevant to the deposit type or style of mineralization but is otherwise similar in terms of who may or may not sign off on such a document.
The Qualified Person must declare whether a qualified person has verified the data disclosed, including sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information or opinions contained in the written disclosure; a description of how the data was verified and any limitations on the verification process; and an explanation of any failure to verify the data.