JORC Summary Reports
Reports of SUmmarised Information and Competent Persons
The issue of summary reporting of mineral resource and reserve information under the JORC Code has been of concern to ASX for some time and will be a subjuect of an upcoming companies update. At issue is the statement of exploration results, resource and reserve estimates in summary presentations, as distinct from resports and formal statements provided to ASX, which nonetheless constitute a public statement and are therefore required to comply with the JORC Code.
The advantage of a summary report is to be able to refer to a previous Public Report. Since the original Public Report is in the public domain, it should be reasonable for all parties (including the company and the investors) to be able to refer to it in subsequent documents.
Having a named Competent Person provide "written consent ... as to the form and context" in which the information and supporting documentation prepared by a Competent Person appears in a summary report will maintain the current high standard of public reporting. It will help ensure that every estimate is presented in a form and context that is appropriate and can always be traced to someone who understands the material issues. The purpose of the Competent Person signing off is to provide comfort to the investor that is backed up by the appropriate professional organisation. Nothing in this discussion should detract from the responsibilities and obligations of the company executives, which are specifically recognised in Clause 8 of the JORC Code.
For a summary report, which must refer to previous reports as the basis for complying with the materiality requirements of the JORC Code, the Competent Person is required to agree to the form and context in which the summarised information appears in the summary report. By referencing the appropriate previous reports the full information required by the Code is available to the investor.
A Competent Person consent for inclusion in a summary report is proposed as follows. This consent should be proximal to the information that has been summarised:
This is a summary report of information extracted from (a) Public Report(s) (... report(s) name...), released by (...company...), on (...date(s)...). Information regarding Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and/or Ore Reserves in this summary report is considered by (...Competent Person name...), who is a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code (2004), to be a fair and reasonable summary of the information in that (those) Public Report(s) and who agrees to the form and context in which it appears in this summary report.
Consent by a Competent Person for a summary report should involve retention by the company of the signed consent form on file, with a copy of the material consented to, so that it can be made available to the stock exchange on request.
This approach to dealing with summary reports was agreed to by the JORC Committee in February 2008.
What is your view of the proposed mechanism for dealing with summary reports? Compliance with the JORC Code is considered to be an important means for maintaining investor confidence in information provided by Australian exploration and mining companies. Any comments on this recommendation, and the application of the JORC Code generally from AIG members are always welcome and should be forwarded to the AIG Secretariat.
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