What is the JORC Code?

The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves — the JORC Code — sets minimum standards for public reporting of mineral projects. The current edition is JORC 2012, and compliance is mandatory for companies listed on the ASX and NZX.

Its core distinction is between resources and reserves. A mineral resource is material with reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction; an ore reserve is the part of a resource shown to be economically mineable after applying modifying factors such as mining method, processing, infrastructure, cost and permitting.

Every JORC public report rests on a named competent person — an individual with relevant experience in the deposit type and activity, belonging to a recognised professional organisation, who takes personal responsibility for the statements made.

That personal accountability is the mechanism. The code does not certify deposits; it makes a qualified individual answerable for how a number was derived and what it does and does not mean.

Institutional capital treats a JORC-compliant resource as the minimum credible starting point, and the same expectation now runs into offtake and project finance discussions.

It is also why USGS-style national reserve figures and JORC figures can diverge sharply for the same country. Australia’s gold reserves are far larger on the broad economic basis the USGS tabulates than on a strict JORC basis, and the difference is a reporting standard rather than geology.