JORC: How Australia Taught the World to Count Reserves Honestly
There's a standard that reshaped the entire mining industry — the JORC Code (Joint Ore Reserves Committee Code). The document after which the words "we've got a lot of gold there" stopped meaning anything at all.
Before 1989
Picture a market where every company decides for itself how to report its reserves. One geologist eyeballs two drill holes and announces a million tonnes of ore. Another runs geostatistical models, accounts for dozens of parameters — and gets three times less from the same ground. Who's right? Nobody knows.
Investors pour money into projects based on polished numbers in presentations. Companies commission open pits, plan processing plants — then discover the ore body is half the size reported, or grades don't support economic extraction. Capital evaporates. Shareholders are wiped out. Scandals pile up.
By the late 1980s, the situation in Australia — the global mining leader — had reached a breaking point. Confidence in the sector was collapsing. Exchanges demanded order. The industry needed a common language, one legible to geologists, investors and regulators alike.
1989: A standard is born
The Joint Ore Reserves Committee publishes the first edition of the Code. The principle is straightforward, but the effect was revolutionary: any public resource estimate must be prepared by a qualified specialist following a rigorous methodology, with all underlying data transparent and auditable.
Clear classification categories are established:
Inferred — minimum data, high uncertainty Indicated — more data, moderate confidence Measured — maximum data, high confidence
Critically, Ore Reserves can only be declared after a feasibility study. Knowing how much metal sits in the ground is not enough — you must demonstrate it can be extracted economically at prevailing prices and with available technology.
The Competent Person — the keystone
A Competent Person is a specialist with a minimum of five years' relevant experience on deposit types and activities covered by the report. The CP bears personal legal and professional liability for the accuracy of the data. Errors trace back to a named individual, not an abstract corporate entity.
This filtered out the incompetent and the fraudulent. You can no longer hand a graduate student two drill holes and ask them to "draw a nice picture." A CP puts their licence and reputation on the line — which is precisely the point.
How it changed the world
After JORC, Australian companies gained a competitive edge: their reports were trusted. Investors understood that figures prepared under the Code were reliable. The standard gradually spread worldwide. Equivalents followed — NI 43-101 in Canada, SAMREC in South Africa, PERC in Europe. But JORC remained the benchmark.
Today, no serious exchange — LSE, TSX or ASX — will accept a reserve statement that does not comply with a recognised international reporting standard. Banks won't lend. Investors won't commit a dollar.
Why this matters for Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is integrating into the global mining economy. Projects are attracting foreign capital and looking toward international listings. Without JORC, NI 43-101 or their equivalents, that path is closed. A deposit can be genuinely world-class — but if the resource estimate doesn't meet international standards, the project won't be financed.
At Minerals Operating, we structure our work to meet global market requirements. Not as a formality — but as the practical means to access serious capital, reach international markets, and engage major partners on equal terms.
JORC gave the industry a shared language. That language is facts, not promises.
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