What is NI 43-101?
The Canadian equivalent of JORC, governing technical disclosure for issuers listed in Canada. JORC and NI 43-101 are broadly comparable in intent, and either is generally acceptable to institutional capital.
Key points
- Securities regulation, not an industry code — a different enforcement character.
- Its output is a prescribed technical report filed on SEDAR.
- Broadly equivalent to JORC for investor purposes.
At a glance
| Full name | National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Canadian-listed issuers |
| Key document | Technical report, filed on SEDAR |
| Sign-off | Qualified person, 5+ years relevant experience |
| Shared basis | CRIRSCO template, same as JORC |
What the rule requires
National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, governs how issuers listed on Canadian exchanges disclose scientific and technical information about mineral properties. It is securities regulation rather than an industry code, which gives it a different enforcement character from JORC.
Its most visible output is the technical report: a prescribed document filed on SEDAR, covering geology, sampling, data verification, resource estimation, and where applicable mining, processing and economics.
The qualified person
NI 43-101 relies on a qualified person — an engineer or geoscientist with relevant experience and membership of an accepted professional association — who prepares or supervises the report and takes responsibility for it.
The role parallels JORC’s competent person closely enough that the two are usually treated as equivalent by investors, though the eligibility criteria differ in detail.
How it compares to JORC
Both derive from the CRIRSCO template and use the same resource and reserve architecture, so a project reported under one is generally intelligible to readers of the other.
The practical differences are procedural: NI 43-101 prescribes the form and filing of the technical report in more detail, while JORC concentrates on the principles governing any public statement. Either is normally acceptable for project finance and offtake discussions.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a NI 43-101 technical report?
- A prescribed disclosure document filed by a Canadian-listed issuer covering a mineral property — its geology, sampling, data verification and resource estimate, and for advanced projects the mining, processing and economic assumptions.
- Who is a qualified person under NI 43-101?
- An engineer or geoscientist with at least five years of relevant experience who is a member in good standing of an accepted professional association and takes responsibility for the technical disclosure.
- Is NI 43-101 the same as JORC?
- Not identical, but broadly equivalent. Both follow the CRIRSCO template and use the same resource and reserve definitions. NI 43-101 is securities regulation with a prescribed report format; JORC is an industry code focused on reporting principles.
Related terms
The Australasian standard for publicly reporting exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves, governing disclosure for ASX-listed companies. A resource signed off by a competent person under JORC 2012 is the baseline serious mining investors expect.
Soviet-era resource classification still used across parts of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Workable, but usually needs conversion or independent review before Western institutional investors will engage with the numbers.
The Australian term for a granted mining title — an exploration licence, mining lease or similar. Minimum expenditure and reporting obligations attach to the tenement itself, and failing them risks forfeiture regardless of any joint venture agreement.
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