A Competent Persons Report is an independent technical evaluation of a mining or petroleum company’s underground assets, prepared and signed by a geologist or engineer who meets strict professional qualifications. Companies commission one when they need a credible, third-party account of what sits in the ground: before an IPO, before listing on a stock exchange, before raising fresh capital, during a merger or acquisition, or when a bank is deciding whether to lend against the project. The signing professional stakes their career and legal liability on the numbers, and that personal exposure is what gives the document its weight with investors and regulators.1JORC. Competent Person’s Consent Form
When Companies Need One
The common triggers are transactional. A company preparing an initial public offering, listing on a new exchange, raising capital through a secondary offering, or negotiating a merger or acquisition will produce one to give the market a defensible valuation of its mineral or hydrocarbon holdings. Financial institutions reviewing a loan application for a mining project will almost always require one before releasing funds.
The report also functions as an internal reality check. Company geologists tend to develop optimistic views of their own deposits, and running those internal estimates through an independent filter aligned with recognized classification standards keeps the figures honest. In a deal negotiation, the report gives both sides a shared factual baseline for pricing, which is often where transactions either come together or fall apart.
Who Qualifies to Sign
The title “Competent Person” or “Qualified Person” is not honorary. Every major reporting framework imposes two core requirements.
First, at least five years of relevant experience with the specific style of mineralization or type of deposit being evaluated. A geologist who spent a decade on gold deposits does not automatically qualify to sign off on a lithium brine project. The experience has to match the deposit type and the activity, whether that is estimating resources, evaluating reserves, or reporting exploration results.1JORC. Competent Person’s Consent Form
Second, active membership at the appropriate level in a recognized professional organization that enforces a code of ethics and has the power to discipline or expel members. Under the JORC Code used in Australasia, qualifying bodies include the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, and dozens of recognized professional organizations across multiple continents.1JORC. Competent Person’s Consent Form Canada’s NI 43-101 requires membership in a self-regulatory provincial or territorial association of engineers or geoscientists.2Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. Qualified Persons The SEC’s S-K 1300 uses nearly identical language, requiring the person to be an eligible member or licensee of a recognized professional organization.3Securities and Exchange Commission. Modernization of Property Disclosures for Mining Registrants – A Small Entity Compliance Guide South Africa’s SAMREC Code follows the same pattern, requiring registration with bodies such as SACNASP or ECSA, or membership in learned societies such as GSSA or SAIMM.4SAIMM. The Competent Person
Does the Author Have to Be Independent?
Not always, and this trips people up. Under the JORC Code, there is no obligation for the Competent Person to be independent of the company. Employees often serve as Competent Persons because they have the deepest knowledge of the deposit. JORC does require disclosure of any employment relationship or financial involvement with the company beyond payment for professional services.5JORC. Frequently Asked Questions – JORC Code
Canada’s NI 43-101 is stricter, but only in specific situations. An independent Qualified Person is required when a company first discloses mineral resources or reserves on a material property, or when total resources or reserves change by 100 percent or more from the last independently prepared report. Producing issuers filing routine updates can generally use their own in-house geologists.6British Columbia Securities Commission. National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects
Under S-K 1300, a Qualified Person who is a company employee must provide written consent on an individual basis to be named in the filing. If an outside firm prepares the report, the firm itself provides the consent.7eCFR. 17 CFR 229.1302 – Qualified Person, Technical Report Summary
Which Code the Report Follows
No single global code governs these reports. Several regional standards run in parallel, each aligned with a common international template maintained by CRIRSCO, the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards.8CRIRSCO. CRIRSCO – Mineral Reserves and Mineral Reporting Standards The code that applies depends on where the company lists and where the project sits.
- JORC Code (Australasia). Incorporated into the listing rules of the Australian Securities Exchange since 1989 and the New Zealand Stock Exchange since 1992.9Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. Comparison of Reporting Environments
- NI 43-101 (Canada). Developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators and first released in 2001. It governs all mineral project disclosures by issuers listed on Canadian exchanges.10Ontario Securities Commission. National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects
- S-K 1300 (United States). The SEC’s modernized mining disclosure rules, which replaced the older Industry Guide 7 and brought U.S. reporting closer to international norms.3Securities and Exchange Commission. Modernization of Property Disclosures for Mining Registrants – A Small Entity Compliance Guide
- SAMREC Code (South Africa). Maintained by the South African Mineral Resource Committee, with five years of relevant experience and professional registration as core requirements.4SAIMM. The Competent Person
- PERC Reporting Standard (Europe). The 2021 edition has been mandatory for PERC member organizations since January 1, 2023.11PERC. PERC Reporting Standard 2021
Because the codes share the CRIRSCO template, NI 43-101 explicitly recognizes JORC, PERC, and SAMREC as “acceptable foreign codes,” so a report prepared under one framework can sometimes satisfy disclosure requirements in another jurisdiction.10Ontario Securities Commission. National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects For petroleum and natural gas projects, the Petroleum Resources Management System is the equivalent international standard, sponsored by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the World Petroleum Council, and other professional bodies. Stock exchanges such as London’s AIM market require oil and gas competent persons reports to follow PRMS classifications.
What Goes Into the Report
The report starts with systematic geological data: detailed mapping, surface sampling, and drilling results. A site visit by the responsible Competent Person is standard practice across frameworks. Under NI 43-101, the Qualified Person taking primary responsibility must visit the site, and data verification is a required element. If data was not verified, the author must explain why.12Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. Qualified Persons – Section: QP’s Responsibilities
From the physical samples, engineers and geologists apply mathematical models to calculate resource and reserve estimates. The raw data is organized by depth, grade, and thickness, and every finding must be traceable to verifiable source data. New drilling results are compared against historical logs and regional geological trends to test whether the models match actual field conditions.
The report also has to address economic viability: commodity price assumptions, projected extraction and processing costs, fuel and labor expenses, and anticipated revenue per unit over a multi-year horizon. Those economic assumptions are what turn a geological finding into a potential mine.
How the categories are drawn matters to the valuation. Resources are deposits with a reasonable prospect for eventual economic extraction; reserves are the subset of resources that a company can legally and economically mine with existing technology and under current conditions. A company sitting on a large inferred resource is in a fundamentally different position than one holding proved reserves of the same tonnage, even though both figures might appear in the same report.13JORC. JORC Code 2012 Edition
Under S-K 1300, environmental detail scales with the study type. An initial assessment identifies required permits and potential obstacles. A preliminary feasibility study adds detailed baseline environmental studies and impact assessments. A full feasibility study requires finalized environmental compliance analysis, completed baseline studies, and finalized plans for tailings disposal, reclamation, and mitigation.14eCFR. 17 CFR Part 229 Subpart 229.1300 – Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Mining Operations
How Long a Report Stays Valid
There is no fixed expiration date. Under NI 43-101, a previously filed technical report keeps satisfying disclosure requirements as long as there is no new material scientific or technical information about the project.15Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. Have Your Technical Reports Timed Out? In practice, reports go stale faster than companies expect. Commodity prices shift, permits expire, project boundaries change, and tax or royalty regimes evolve. If any of those factors makes the existing report materially misleading, a fresh one is needed regardless of when the last one was filed.
Under S-K 1300, a company must file an updated technical report summary whenever there is a material change in mineral reserves or resources from the last report filed for that property.3Securities and Exchange Commission. Modernization of Property Disclosures for Mining Registrants – A Small Entity Compliance Guide The trigger is the materiality of the change, not the passage of time. A company whose annual report shows the same resource estimate year after year does not need a fresh summary each cycle, but one that discovers a significant new zone or loses a key permit does.
What Happens When a Report Is Wrong
The consequences for getting the numbers wrong are not hypothetical. Under S-K 1300, the Qualified Person is liable for misstating or omitting material facts. All disclosure of exploration results, mineral resources, and mineral reserves must be based on and accurately reflect the supporting documentation prepared by the Qualified Person. The rules require the QP’s written consent to be named in the filing, so the professional cannot later claim they were unaware their work was being used publicly.7eCFR. 17 CFR 229.1302 – Qualified Person, Technical Report Summary
There is a narrow safe harbor. A Qualified Person can disclaim responsibility for certain items provided by the company, including macroeconomic assumptions, marketing plans, legal matters outside the QP’s expertise, and environmental issues beyond their scope. The carve-out is more limited than it sounds. Unlike NI 43-101, the SEC’s rules do not let a Qualified Person disclaim liability simply by citing reliance on “other experts.” Companies and QPs who try to apply Canadian-style disclaimers to U.S. filings risk drawing formal comments from SEC staff.
When things go seriously wrong, the exposure is substantial. In 2023, the SEC settled with Brazilian mining company Vale S.A. for $55.9 million over charges that included misleading disclosures. The settlement included a $25 million civil penalty and $30.9 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest, along with a permanent injunction.16Securities and Exchange Commission. Brazilian Mining Company to Pay $55.9 Million to Settle Charges That action involved broader misconduct than a single report, but it shows the scale of penalties when mining disclosures mislead the market.