Since 2005, CRIRSCO has been involved in advising the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which is considering the development of a new Accounting Standard for the Extractive Industries as part of its International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), on the use of mineral reserves and mineral resources for financial reporting purposes. The petroleum industry, through the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), has been similarly involved.
The IASB has recently indicated its preference to use existing, widely accepted reporting systems; primarily the CRIRSCO Template and the PRMS, rather than attempt to develop its own resource and reserve definitions and standards. The ‘rules’ whereby the major assets of an exploration or mining company, its mineral resources and reserves, are used for example in depreciation and impairment are obviously highly relevant to the companies concerned. With the general global acceptance of IFRS, CRIRSCO believes it is increasingly important to engage with regulators such as the IASB and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to ensure that the eventual standards do not disadvantage mining companies or render ineffective the various current national reporting standards.