At a recent meeting, the Executive Working group of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) endorsed a proposal from CRIRSCO to become a Task Force of the ICMM for a trial period of two years. This decision is expected to be ratified by the ICMM Council in May. CRIRSCO (Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards) aims to contribute to earning and maintaining the trust and confidence of investors and other stakeholders for its financial and operational wellbeing, by promoting high standards of reporting of mineral deposit estimates (Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves) and of exploration progress (Exploration Results).

Niall Weatherstone, CRIRSCO’s Chairman says the association with ICMM will bring CRIRSCO financial and organizational support; things it has lacked in recent years. ICMM members will part fund CRIRSCO’s annual budget and can provide administrative, secretarial and treasury support. "Above all, the ICMM offers an unparalleled influence on mining industry matters as its Council comprises 15 of the world’s major mining and metal producing companies represented at CEO level. In addition the list of 24 Association Members, including organisations such as the Mining Association of Canada and the World Gold Council, adds extra weight to issues addressed by the ICMM.

"CRIRSCO brings support for ICMM in terms of promoting uniform and transparent reporting and best practice resource and reserve estimation. In the longer term, there are opportunities for CRIRSCO to influence the ICMM by incorporating many of its ideals into the sustainable development framework that the ICMM promotes and to bring closer focus on the third, economic, strand of sustainable development."

As part of International Mining’s (www.im-mining.com) focus on consultants in the December issue this year, the work of CRIRSCO will be considered, along with an examination of what all these studies mean (scoping, prefeasibility, feasibility, etc.) and how their validity is controlled. Editorial contributions are welcomed.