How validated data helps industry standard reporting in mineral exploration and mining

Keeping investors and the market up to date with the progress of your exploration and mining projects is important. The reports need to be understood by all and comparable to other projects. It means you need to report using standard terms to describe your Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.

One of the key facets of a report to the market is the size of the deposit and the confidence level the company has in its resource estimate. Underpinning the geologic model used to estimate the deposit is the data collected throughout drilling, sampling and other activities.

The Competent Person (usually the senior geologist) is the responsible party who signs off on the data in the report. They need to demonstrate that the data is stored and coded correctly. An effective solution to manage your geoscientific information helps you by standardising the process of collection and verification to avoid inadvertent misreporting.

The challenge of keeping your data organised with a diverse and transient workforce is not easy without a good system. Companies need a system that captures, validates, and stores their geoscientific data to be able to report their data with confidence when they need it.

Estimating Mineral Resources is a team effort and the Competent Person wants peace of mind that the documentation and final numbers they sign off on are founded on well controlled and validated data sets.

Compliant reporting must be based on data you trust

Aspects of your deposit such as size and the confidence level you have in your geologic model gives investors an idea of the risk in your project.

As you carry out exploration activities, you must continually disclose any knowledge about what is held in the ground within your tenements.

If a company gets good exploration drilling results or finds more mineralisation to add to the Mineral Resource, this can attract investors and bolster the share price and provide funds to develop the resource further.

Internationally recognised standards defined by organisations such CIM and JORC, help ensure investor confidence through guidelines for reporting Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. The regulated standards and guidelines help ensure all public disclosure is accurate and interpretable.

The guidelines foster standardisation of reporting and provide a benchmark for companies. They provide a minimum standard for reporting of Exploration Results to the market, ensuring public reports contain all the information investors need to make a balanced judgement and investment. The guidelines also aim to limit erroneous reporting caused by rogue and incompetent operators.

Using the right tools

The acQuire GIM Suite gives you the tools to adhere to rules and provides security to help you drastically reduce the risk of your data from being mis-coded, lost or corrupted. These include validation at the point of entry through defined codes and limits that activate while inputting your data.

The GIM Suite helps you manage your information to support compliance and audit requirements for reporting. Geologists can have peace of mind the information they are providing is good quality and from a source they can trust.

Geoscientists, managers and the executive team have access to a single source of detailed information enabling them to adhere to codes, rules, regulations and practices, contributing to more efficient decision-making and compliance reporting.