The Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO) has been gaining momentum in recent years, with Brazil as its latest inductee and first Portuguese-speaking member. In November, the country became the ninth member and the second South American country to become a member of the CRIRSCO family of Codes.

CRIRSCO’s members are National Reporting Organizations (NROs), which are bodies responsible for developing mineral reporting codes, standards and guidelines for a single country or a grouping of countries. The member NROs, such as CIM, nominate two representatives to the Committee who offer their service on a voluntary basis.

Each year CRIRSCO holds an Annual General Meeting in a country working towards CRIRSCO membership, during which the NRO representatives provide an update of their jurisdiction’s codes and guidelines, and the chairperson of CRIRSCO outlines the organization’s progress and future goals. The most recent meeting was held in Brasilia, Brazil in late November.

The first day’s session was hosted by the Comissão Brasileira de Recursos e Reservas (“CBRR” – Brazilian Resources and Reserves Commission), a newly created NRO for Brazil. To be accepted for CRIRSCO membership, a NRO must meet several requirements that include conducting international consultations with NROs represented on CRIRSCO, maintaining a reporting standard compatible with the CRIRSCO template which is recognized as the standard of public reporting for that region, and establishing procedures for the registration of a Qualified (Competent) Person and a Code of Ethics, with suitable provisions for disciplining its members.

Under the stewardship of Felipe Holzhacker Alves, President of the CBRR, the Brazilian NRO prepared a reporting standard and established procedures for registering Qualified Persons in the country. This allowed CBRR to achieve its objective of establishing a solid basis for the local mining industry and incentivizing investments and developments. The acceptance of Brazil into CRIRSCO comes after a culmination of a year of tremendous effort by three organizations working in concert within the nation: Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Pesquisa Mineral (Brazilian Association of Mineral Exploration Companies), Agência para o Desenvolvimento Tecnológico da Indústria Mineral Brasileira (Brazilian Agency for Minerals Technology, Research and Development) and Instituto Brasileiro de Mineração (Brazilian Mining Association). CBRR will act as the national representative organization and will be responsible for registering Qualified Professionals, Brazil’s equivalent of a Competent or Qualified Person.

CRIRSCO’s international acclaim continues to quickly progress, with several other countries expressing interest in becoming members. Representatives from Kazakhstan, India, and China attended this year’s CRIRSCO meeting in Brasilia, with Kazakhstan having signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CRIRSCO and establishing its own NRO – the Kazakhstan Association of Public Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves – in 2015. CRIRSCO has appointed two representatives in India to help establish a compliant mining code, and in November 2015, India established a National Core Committee with 30 members representing all regions of the country from various companies and professional societies. Discussions have been held with China for many years on reporting systems and there is a close relationship between AusIMM and leaders in the Chinese mining industry, many of whom are fellows of AusIMM. Other South American countries in attendance, such as Peru, Colombia, and Argentina, are aiming to join CRIRSCO, and are currently in different stages of setting up a code modelled on the Chilean Comisión Minera.

With support from CIM and the International Council on Mining and Metals, CRIRSCO, established in 1994, continues to build momentum as an important international organization seeking to improve the standards of public reporting of exploration results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. CIM has been an important supporting member of CRIRSCO, and is a vital contributor to the standardization of codes and guidelines. The standardization of these codes and the involvement of a Qualified (Competent) Person has led to increased investor confidence in the mining industry worldwide.

CRIRSCO members:

Australasia (JORC)* Canada (CIM)* Europe (PERC)

South Africa (SAMREC)* United States (SME)*

Chile (National Committee) Joined 2002 Russia (NAEN) Joined 2011

Mongolia (MPIGM) Joined 2014 Brazil (CBRR) Joined 2015

*Founding member

Author

Deborah McCombe is the president, CEO and principal geologist at Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. and CRIRSCO’s CIM representative.