Geoscientist 18.9 September 2008
The Pan-European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee (PERC) was formed in 2006 to resume the work of the former Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) Reserves Committee (which had developed the original 1991 IMM Code) and to take responsibility for managing and updating the 2001 Reporting Code.
The new committee is much broader in scope than the one it replaces. The Geological Society is one of four sponsor organisations, alongside the European Federation of Geologists, the Institute of Geologists of Ireland, and the International Mining and Minerals Association - an 'umbrella grouping' of the minerals divisions of the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining, successor to the IMM. Membership of PERC also includes representatives from key sectors of the minerals and financial communities.
On 17 June, PERC published a "Consultation Draft" of the new PERC 2008 reporting code (available to download from www.percreserves.com), available for public consultation until 17 October. Fellows of the Society are invited to participate actively in this consultation. This is your minerals reporting code!
The PERC Code 2008 has been updated to incorporate improvements in the international CRIRSCO ‘template’, as well as details specific to the European extractive industries (such as for industrial minerals, dimension stone and aggregates). It is a CRIRSCO-compliant Code and shares identical reserve and resource definitions with other Codes in the CRIRSCO family, such as JORC and CIM.
Why use PERC ? Why not JORC or 43-101 ? The simple answer is that it's "ours". Changes in JORC will meet the requirements of the Australian Stock Exchange, while CIM and the 43-101 rules meet the needs of the Toronto Stock Exchange, and SAMREC is similarly tied to the Johannesburg market. As a result, while the Codes are as close as they can be made, there are still minor but significant differences between them.
This is no problem for now, perhaps, but there are no guarantees it will stay that way. There are some differences in interpretation, and differences in emphasis on different minerals, and PERC is responsive to European companies and markets in a way that the other codes cannot be. Indeed, because of its broad membership the PERC committee has already responded to the needs of the UK and European minerals community in drafting the new Code.
Release of the final version of the PERC 2008 Code is expected in mid-December 2008. All enquiries to
[email protected].