This edition of the Journal features papers that were presented at the SAMREC/SAMVAL Companion Volume Conference held on 17 and 18 May 2016 and attended by some 100 people. The intention of the conference was to provide Competent Persons and Competent Valuators with the opportunity to prepare and present details of recognized standards and industry benchmarks in all aspects of the SAMREC and SAMVAL Codes. These contributions were collated into a Companion Volume to provide a guideline for the declaration of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, and the Valuation of Mineral Projects for South Africa.
The purpose of international mineral reporting codes such as the SAMREC Code and the valuation codes such as the SAMVAL Code is to ensure that misleading, erroneous, or fraudulent information relating to mineral properties and mineral asset valuations is not published or promoted to investors on the stock exchanges. In preparing Public Reports for Exploration Results, Mineral Resources, and Mineral Reserves (SAMREC) and Mineral Asset Valuations (SAMVAL) the practitioner must satisfy the requirements of the SAMREC and SAMVAL Codes. The intention of the Companion Volume is to aid the Competent Person (CP) and Competent Mineral Asset Valuator (CV) when making these declarations. The objective of this conference and the Companion Volume was to provide a record of current industry benchmarks and best practice to be used or referenced when making a declaration. A best practice consistently yields superior results to those achieved with other means or techniques, and is used as a benchmark.
Reporting in accordance with the guidelines of the Codes alone does not guarantee good reporting, as the nature of the mining industry changes over time due to developments in the economic, social, political, and technical environments. The Codes also cover a very broad spectrum in terms of commodities, geographies, and mineral deposit/mineralization types. It was therefore felt that more guidance was required for the CP/CV to assist with reporting and promote good reporting.
It is acknowledged that no single document could cover all the accepted industry practices or assist with all possible situations. However, the aim of the Companion Volume is to represent the best current knowledge. A key strategic talent is still required when applying best practice as the Competent Person or Competent Mineral Asset Valuator must balance the unique situation with the practices that it has in common with others.
The Codes are guidelines to assist Competent Persons and Competent Mineral Asset Valuators when declaring Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Mineral Reserves and their valuations. The purpose of the Companion Volume is also to provide information that will be useful to mentor-less or inexperienced mineral industry professionals. Despite having these industry practices available, the Competent Person or Competent Mineral Asset Valuator is still required to be prepared to defend themselves to their peers and take responsibly for their work.
In addition to the technical presentations, the recently developed and released guidelines for environmental, social, and governance reporting (SAMESG) were distributed at the conference. An aspect that also came out of the SAMREC Code update was the need for comprehensive guidelines for the reporting of diamonds resources and reserves. To this end, diamond reporting guidelines were also presented and distributed. Both the Diamond guidelines and the SAMESG guidelines are supplementary to the SAMREC Code.
The Conference included three plenary addresses, a panel discussion, 29 papers about the SAMREC Code including three keynote addresses, and eight papers under the SAMVAL section with one keynote address. This edition of the Journal represents a selection of those papers presented.
The SAMREC and SAMVAL Codes were officially launched at the opening bell of the JSE on the 17–18 May 2016. A period was allowed in which the previous Codes (SAMREC 2007 as amended in 2009) and SAMVAL (2008) were used in parallel to the Codes launched in 2016. The updated Codes became the prevailing Codes on 1 January 2017.
We encourage CPs and CVs to review the papers presented so that they can be up to speed with the new developments in reporting and in the declaration of Exploration Results, Minerals Resources, and Mineral Reserves as well as when making a declaration of A Mineral Asset Valuation.
K. Lomberg
Chairperson Organizing Committee