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The JORC Code explained

JORC is the code Australian and New Zealand listed miners follow when they report exploration results, resources and reserves. If you read ASX releases, you read JORC every day. Here is what it requires and where to find it in a release.

What the code is

The JORC Code sets the minimum standard for public reports of exploration results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves in Australasia. It rests on three principles: transparency (enough information, clearly presented, for a reader to understand it), materiality (everything an investor or their adviser would reasonably need), and competence (a named, qualified professional takes responsibility). The ASX Listing Rules make it binding for listed companies, and other exchanges, including London's AIM, accept it.

The Competent Person

Every report of exploration results, resources or reserves names a Competent Person: a member of the AusIMM, the AIG or a recognised overseas body, with at least five years' experience in the style of deposit and the type of work. Look for the Competent Person statement at the end of a release; it says who they are, whether they work for the company, and that they consent to the report.

Example: a Competent Person statement

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Ms A. Example, a Competent Person who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Ms Example is a full-time employee of the Company and has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the JORC Code. Ms Example consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on her information in the form and context in which it appears.

A made-up statement in the usual wording. Look for three things: the professional body, whether the person works for the company, and the consent.

Headline and highlightsThe best intervals, with hole names. Check they are downhole or true widths, and whether the assays are in.
Results tableEvery hole, its intervals, and the cut-off and dilution rules used to build them. Holes with no significant result should be listed too.
Plan and sectionWhere the holes are and how they cut the zone. Without these a result has no context.
Collar tableEasting, northing, elevation, dip, azimuth and depth of each hole. Enough to place it in 3D.
Competent Person statementWho takes responsibility for the information, their professional body, and whether they work for the company.
JORC Table 1The checklist at the back: sampling, drilling, assaying, QA/QC, data spacing, geology, with an 'if not, why not' for anything missing.

The parts of a typical ASX drilling release under the JORC Code. Sketch, not a real announcement.

Table 1, section by section

Sampling techniques and data: drilling method, sample sizes, recovery, logging, laboratory, assay method and quality control (standards, blanks, duplicates), data spacing and hole orientation.
Reporting of exploration results: the tenements, previous work, geology, the drill hole information (the collar table), how intervals were aggregated, and the relation between downhole and true widths.
Estimation and reporting of Mineral Resources: the database, geological interpretation, estimation method, cut-off, the reasons for each category.
Estimation and reporting of Ore Reserves: the study it rests on and every modifying factor.
Diamonds and other gemstones: the extra criteria for those deposits.

Items that are not relevant are explained rather than skipped ("if not, why not"). Table 1 is where to find the cut-off grade, the internal dilution and any top cut behind a headline result (see how to read drill results).

The categories

Exploration Results, Exploration Targets, Mineral Resources (Inferred, Indicated, Measured) and Ore Reserves (Probable, Proved). Each is explained in resources and reserves. An Exploration Target must be given as ranges with a statement that it is conceptual. Production targets and forecasts that rest on Inferred resources need a cautionary statement under the ASX rules.

JORC and the other codes

JORC is one of a family of national codes aligned through CRIRSCO, the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards. Its relatives include NI 43-101 with the CIM standards in Canada (see NI 43-101 explained), SAMREC in South Africa, PERC in Europe and S-K 1300 for US SEC filers. A resource reported under one maps closely onto the others.

Questions

What does JORC stand for?

The Joint Ore Reserves Committee, set up by the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) and the Minerals Council of Australia. Its code, the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, is known as the JORC Code.

What is the current JORC Code?

The 2012 edition. ASX and NZX listed companies must report exploration results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves in line with it.

What is a Competent Person under JORC?

A member of the AusIMM, the AIG or a recognised overseas professional organisation, with at least five years of experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and the activity being reported. The Competent Person takes responsibility for the reported information and consents to how it is presented.

What is JORC Table 1?

A checklist attached to a release that explains, criterion by criterion, how the data were collected and handled: sampling techniques, drilling, assays and quality control, data spacing, geology, and for resources and reserves the estimation and modifying factors. Companies report each item on an 'if not, why not' basis.

Is a JORC resource the same as an NI 43-101 resource?

The categories match closely, because both codes follow the CRIRSCO template: Inferred, Indicated and Measured resources; Probable and Proved reserves. The rules around them differ, for example NI 43-101 requires a filed technical report and JORC uses Table 1 in the release.

Sources

An explainer of how mining companies report their work, written from the public codes and rules linked above. It describes the documents and does not rate any company, project or result. Not investment advice.