Mineral reporting in the Philippines is governed by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order No. 2023-05, entitled “Revised Guidelines for the Classification and Reporting Standards of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources, and Mineral Reserves” ( “DAO No. 2023-05”). DAO No. 2023-05 was approved in 2023, and this year marks the end of the prescribed two-year transition period for its full implementation. Stakeholders in the minerals industry must now fully observe the revised guidelines for reporting exploration results, mineral resources, and mineral reserves.
DAO No. 2023-05 institutionalized the adoption of the Philippine Mineral Reporting Code of 2020 (“PMRC”). The PMRC sets out the minimum standards, recommendations and guidelines for public reporting of exploration results, mineral resources and mineral reserves. The PMRC of 2020 is an upgrade of the PMRC of 2007 and was modeled substantially after the International Reporting Template (2019) of the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (“CRIRSCO”) and the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources, and Ore Reserves (“JORC Code”).
DAO No. 2023-05 applies to solid and non-energy mineral resources in the country. The general framework of classifying mineral reports is guided by the stage or phase of exploration, feasibility study and economic viability.
A Mineral Resource, the concentration or occurrence of solid material of economic interest in or on the Earth’s crust, is assessed and classified based on the degree of geological confidence in the available information gathered during exploration, sampling and testing stage. In increasing order, the categories of mineral resource are “Inferred”, “Indicated” and/or “Measured”.
Further assessment of the Mineral Resource may convert it to a Mineral Reserve, which refers to portions of the deposit deemed economically mineable. Parts of Indicated Mineral Resource and Measured Mineral Resource may be converted to either “Probable Mineral Reserve” or “Proved Mineral Reserve”, respectively. During this conversion, modifying factors are taken into consideration, which may include mining, processing, metallurgical, infrastructure, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental elements.
DAO No. 2023-05 mandates that mineral reports for public disclosure must be prepared by Accredited Competent Persons ( “ACP”). ACP are technical professionals or experts, who may be geologists, mining engineers or a metallurgical engineers licensed by the Professional Regulation Commission. ACP must be in good standing, accredited by the pertinent professional organization, and must have a minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience in the style of mineralization or type of deposit under consideration. Foreign geologists, mining engineers and/or metallurgical engineers may also qualify as ACP in the Philippines, provided their professional organization has a reciprocal arrangement with the equivalent local accrediting professional organization and they are considered as ACP in their home country.
DAO No. 2023-05 was promulgated to update the classification and reporting standards of exploration results, mineral resources and mineral reserves, ensuring consistency with internationally accepted standards and enabling the local minerals industry to adopt these practices.
The full text of DAO No. 2023-05 may be accessed through this link.