A perspective on global harmonisation of major national mineral asset valuation codes

Companies involved in the minerals industry have been exposed to operating in more than one geographical jurisdiction for over a century. This practice has been amplified in recent decades by globalisation of the world economy. Cross-jurisdictional exposure has required that the way information on mineral assets is reported in the public domain or as industry best practice be standardised in order to provide a common understanding, irrespective of regulatory jurisdiction. Accordingly, a global committee known as the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO) was formed in 1994 to align national minerals reporting codes. CRIRSCO initially published a template in 2006 and updated it in May 2013 to align the national mineral reporting codes. The template fosters a common understanding by harmonising the definitions, classification, estimation processes and the public reporting of exploration results, mineral resources and mineral reserves. The standardisation of minerals reporting codes is a foundation from which inputs to subsequent valuations are defined. However, despite the various national valuation codes having adequate high-level commonality on some principles, valuation approaches, competence and application of these codes, there are differences that arise in the areas of definitions, some principles and scope that require alignment. Consequently, the International Mineral Valuation Committee (IMVAL) was formed in 2012 in Australia, primarily to develop a globally acceptable mineral asset valuation (MAV) template by harmonising the valuation codes. This paper contributes to the development of such a template by providing a plausible framework for its development. The framework is premised on a skeletal structure that initially encompasses only high-level commonality among the major valuation codes, while allowing jurisdiction-specific requirements to be addressed at the national level. There is flexibility for the template to evolve over time to include aspects not initially addressed, such as valuation of mineral corporations and their respective securities, and valuation of oil and gas assets.