Ministerial Guidelines for Description of a Mineral Resource and the Preparation of a Mineralisation Report

Under the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990

Introduction

The Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 (“the Act”) provides the legislative framework for the development and regulation of the mineral exploration and mining industry (including gold, coal, and mineral sands) as well as the extractive industry (quarries) for the extraction of stone resources. The Act seeks to encourage an economically viable mining industry which makes the best use of mineral resources in a way that is compatible with the economic, social and environmental objectives of the State. The Act is intended to be administered with regard to the principles of sustainable development set out in section 2A of the Act.

The Minister for Energy and Resources is responsible for administering the Act and any regulations under that Act. Resources Victoria in the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action supports the Minister for Resources as Victoria’s resources and mining industry regulator. Resources Victoria regulates the minerals industry through the administration of the Act and the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) (Mineral Industries) Regulations 2019 (“the Regulations”).

Purpose and scope

These Ministerial guidelines outline the information that should accompany applications for a mining licence or a retention licence when describing a Mineral Resource in accordance with section 15(1BB) of the Act and, when required by section 15(1BE), preparing a Mineralisation Report.

To avoid doubt, these guidelines do not apply to exploration licence or prospecting licence applications.

Legal context

Applicants for a mining licence or a retention licence are required by section 15(1BB) of the Act to describe a Mineral Resource in accordance with guidelines issued by the Minister.

If the Mineral Resource described in the application is not already being mined, then section 15(1BE) requires that the application include a Mineralisation Report. The Mineralisation Report must be prepared by a Competent Person. A “Competent Person” is defined in section 15(1BG) of the Act and regulation 12 of the Regulations.

The Mineralisation Report must set out the exploration results relating to the described Mineral Resource and include an analysis of whether these results indicate that there is a reasonable prospect that the mining of the Mineral Resource will be economically viable or, in the case of a retention licence application, may become economically viable to mine: sections 15(1BE) and 14C(1). Section 15(1BF) of the Act provides further detail about what must be specified and included in the exploration results.

Where the Minister accepts an application for a mining or retention licence referred to in section 15(1BB), they must consider the Mineralisation Report that accompanies the application for the purpose of being satisfied whether to grant the licence: section 15(6C). The Minister may request additional information about the application (including about economic viability), which the applicant must provide within 14 days of the request: section 15(7).

Section 120A of the Act empowers the Minister to issue guidelines relating to any of the objectives or purposes of the Act or the regulations made under the Act.

Key terms and abbreviations used in the guidelines are defined in the glossary and abbreviations.

The guidelines should be read in conjunction with other licence application requirements in the Act and the Regulations.

Commencement and availability

These Ministerial guidelines commence operation on the day they are published in the Government Gazette and, from that day, supersede the Ministerial Guidelines for Description of a Mineral Resource published in the Government Gazette on 20 February 2012.

The guidelines may be updated from time to time, and it is the responsibility of licence applicants to ensure that the latest version of the guidelines is used when preparing an application for a mining licence or a retention licence. Any new or revised guidelines made by the Minister will be notified in the Government Gazette and will come into effect on the date that notice is published.

Description of a Mineral Resource

The Minister for Resources, or her/his delegate, assesses applications for mining and retention licences having regard to the Mineral Resource described in the application.

This Part of the Ministerial Guidelines details what must be included in the Description of a Mineral Resource for the purpose of a mining or retention licence application.

Describing the Mineral Resource

Section 15(1BB) of the Act requires applications for a mining licence or a retention licence to describe a Mineral Resource in accordance with guidelines issued by the Minister.

Unless provided otherwise in these guidelines, all applications for a mining or retention licence must identify a Mineral Resource using the standards and terminology set out in the Joint Ore Reserve Committee (JORC) Code or the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definition Standards (which inform National Instrument (NI) 43-101)) both of which are accepted classification systems under the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO). The information submitted cannot be a combination of different reporting mechanisms, only one format will be accepted by the Regulator.

These guidelines are not intended to reiterate or explain the JORC Code and its requirements (for that see JORC) but simply indicates the relevance of the JORC Code to mining and retention licence applications under the Act.

Mineral resource

Typically, a mineral resource should take the format of an amount (tonnage) and quality (grade) for a contained quantity after some modifying factor (cut-off grade) has been applied. Different mineral resource classifications should be reported separately in the Description of a Mineral Resource. Some geological inputs into describing the mineral resource should date from within the last 10 years.

The level of geological confidence

A mineral resource must be identified as coming within one of the following classifications of geological confidence provided for in the latest version of the JORC Code:

• Inferred mineral resource
• Indicated mineral resource
• Measured mineral resource.

For a retention licence application, a minimum of an inferred resource as defined by the JORC Code must be established within the area covered by the application.

For a mining licence application, a minimum of an indicated resource as defined by the JORC Code must be established within the area covered by the application.

For a near surface or small scale gold resource, the level of confidence still needs to be provided, even where the JORC classification may not be appropriate.

Competent Person

The information and supporting documentation included in the Description of a Mineral Resource and the Mineralisation Report must have been prepared by a Competent Person (as defined in the Act and the Regulations).

Section 15(1BG) provides that, for the purposes of section 15(1BE), a Competent Person means a person prescribed in the Regulations. Regulation 12 sets out that a person is a Competent Person to prepare a Mineralisation Report if:

• The person has:
  • membership of an organisation approved by the Department Head that is of a class approved by the Department Head; and
  • a minimum of 5 years' experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation or type of deposit and to the activity that is the subject of the report; or
• in the case of a mineral deposit that is easily and readily assessed visually at the ground surface, the Minister has determined, on a case-by-case basis, that the person has the relevant experience in mining or mineral exploration to prepare the report.
  • In the case of gypsum, the Minister has determined that a Competent Person must demonstrate a minimum of 5 years’ experience relevant to the mining or mineral exploration of gypsum and may be a member of the National Gypsum Miners Association.

For this regulation, the Department Head has published a list of approved organisations and classes of membership in the Victoria Government Gazette.

JORC Code Table 1

Table 1 of the JORC Code should be provided to support the description of a mineral resource as it contains assessment criteria which should be considered by the Competent Person. The relevant Items in Table 1 should be addressed on an “if not, why not” basis and may include information on:

• sampling techniques and data
• reporting of exploration results
• estimation and reporting of mineral resources; and
• estimation and reporting of ore reserve.

Mineralisation report

Where the Mineral Resource described in the Description of a Mineral Resource under section 15(1BB) of the Act is not being mined from the land covered by the mining or retention licence being applied for, then section 15(1BE) of the Act requires that the applicant submit a Mineralisation Report prepared by a Competent Person (as defined in the Act and Regulations).

A Mineralisation Report will only be required for a mining licence application when the land is not currently being mined. A Mineralisation Report will always be required for retention licence applications, as mining cannot occur under this licence type.

Reports by ASX listed mining companies

If the licence applicant is a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and the company has already submitted a detailed resource report to the ASX in compliance with the ASX Listing Rules (see chapter 5) then that report can be used in place of having to prepare a separate Mineralisation Report to accompany the mining or retention licence application. This is intended to avoid duplication and reduce regulatory burden. The reporting requirements for a detailed resource report to the ASX are regarded as equal or more stringent than the requirements to prepare a Mineralisation Report under the Act.

To be regarded as equivalent to a Mineralisation Report, the resource report is expected to be publicly available on the ASX Market Announcements platform and should accompany the mining or retention licence application. The resource report must be the most recently published prior to the submission of the licence application. Should the most recently published report be more than 36 months prior to the application, a statement detailing why the report is still current should accompany the submission. For example, no further exploration has been undertaken since the date of the report.

If the licence applicant is a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) then an NI 43-101 Technical Report, which is comparable to a JORC Code technical report, can be provided instead of a Mineralisation Report. For further information see the National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Content of a Mineralisation Report

Sections 15(1BE)(a) and 15(1BF) require that the Mineralisation Report set out the exploration results in relation to the described Mineral Resource. Section 15(1BE)(b) also requires the Mineralisation Report to include an analysis of whether the exploration results indicate that there is a reasonable prospect that the mining of the described Mineral Resource will be economically viable.

It is expected that the Mineralisation Report will include the following components:

• The Description of a Mineral Resource
  As required by section 15(1BB) and prepared by a competent person in accordance with the introduction section of these guidelines.

• Report of Exploration Results
  As required by sections 15(1BE)(a),15(1BF) of the Act and JORC Table 1, guidance for which follows below (see Assessing economic viability); and

• Proposed program of work
  As required by section 15 (6)(c) of the Act and the relevant regulations for retention and mining licence applications. Note for a retention licence application, this should include the key activity Milestone and expenditure; and

• Economic Viability Assessment
  As required by section 15(1BE)(b), guidance for which follows (see Economic viability assessment for a retention licence or for a mining licence) below.

The following checklists provide guidance on the requirements for a Mineralisation report under the Victorian legislation.

If the report of exploration results and the economic viability assessment are not prepared by the same competent person who prepared the Description of a Mineral Resource, then additional Competent Persons Compliance Statements should be included in the report. Should the Competent Persons no longer be involved with the company, a statement from a Competent Person(s) currently working within the organisation and taking responsibility for the application must be provided.

It is essential that the Mineralisation Report include recent geological sample information along with details about Mineral Resource estimation methods (as detailed in Table 1 of the JORC Code). It is expected that a report of exploration results be accompanied by suitable maps, cross-sections, long sections and representations of three-dimensional (geological or block) model/s that demonstrate the Mineral Resource.

The level of information expected in the Mineralisation Report will vary depending on the scale of the operation and the mineral resource being explored or mined.

Retention licence or large-scale mining licence

In the case of a retention licence or a larger scale mining licence, applicants are required to produce a detailed Mineralisation Report, compiled by a Competent Person and use JORC classification.

The Mineralisation report should include:

• details of the location, depth, quantity and extent of mineralisation
• maps including the application boundary and extent of mineralisation
• method used to determine the extent of the mineralisation, such as drilling and sampling method
• analytical results obtained from samples of the mineral or minerals, including cross sections and/or long sections; and
• the market for the product, including justification of why the resource may or may not be currently economically viable to mine.

Note: If a resource is currently economically viable to mine, then the application should be for a mining licence.

Alternative evidence – ‘Nuggety’ gold

Alternative evidence can be used where the resource contains “nuggety” gold, such that the estimation of the resource to a level of confidence and complying with JORC Code standards is not practical.

The applicant must demonstrate to the Minister that the mineral resource is highly variable, such that it would require a density of sampling that would not be practically feasible or economically justifiable to establish a minimum JORC-compliant resource.

In these circumstances, the onus is on the applicant to demonstrate the following in the Mineralisation Report based on their exploration results:

• the variability of grade due to nuggety gold
• mineralisation has been tested to the extent that would typically allow for the estimation of a resource to a level of confidence similar to that of JORC, and
• that the resource has reasonable prospects of economic extraction.

Note: Alternative evidence will not be accepted in instances where the volume of drilling and sampling are less than that which would be expected were there no application of alternative evidence.

Near surface deposits (E.g. gypsum, kaolin)

Near surface deposits, such as gypsum, have limited vertical extent compared to other minerals and as such are not expected to describe the Mineral Resource in accordance with JORC. For these applications a simplified mineralisation report should include:

• details of the location, depth, quantity and extent of mineralisation
• maps including the application boundary and extent of mineralisation
• method used to determine the extent of the mineralisation, such as drilling and sampling
• analytical results obtained from samples of the mineral
• the market for the product and sale arrangements.

Small scale gold mining

Small scale mining is where the exploration work required to demonstrate the mineral resource to a level complying with JORC Code standards is not proportionate to the proposed size and production rate of the resource, e.g. the production rate is expected to be less than the minimum number of ounces before a royalty is payable.

Some examples may include a mining licence application:

• greater than 5 hectares and over historic workings
• less than 5 hectares and where the code of practice is applicable
• over a prospecting licence where the application area is greater than 5 hectares
• greater than 5 hectares for a doze and detect operation, e.g. mining of alluvial gold.

In these circumstances a simplified mineralisation report should be submitted and include:

• details of the location, depth, quantity and extent of mineralisation
• maps including the application boundary and extent of mineralisation
• method used to determine the extent of the mineralisation, such as historic drilling, sampling, and/or production
• analytical results obtained from samples of the mineral
• the market for the product and sale arrangements.

Assessing economic viability

All Mineral Resources, regardless of their classification (as inferred, indicated or measured), must satisfy the requirement that the mineral “is or may be economically viable to mine”.

In preparing a Mineralisation Report, section 15(1BE)(b) requires the inclusion of an analysis of whether the exploration results indicate that there is a reasonable prospect that the mining of the described Mineral Resource will be economically viable. Consistent with the JORC Code, “reasonable prospect” of eventual economically viable mining is taken to mean more likely than not. In all cases, the considered timeframe for when mining is considered economically viable should be disclosed and discussed by the Competent Person in the assessment component of the Mineralisation Report.

Economic viability is not a function of a firm’s financial capability. It is a function of the resource, commodity price and foreseeable cost of extraction. The economic viability will be applied as an objective test to a project, concept or plan and is distinguishable from a test of the licence applicant’s immediate financial capacity to progress a project.

Assessment of economic viability should be undertaken by a suitably qualified and experienced person on behalf of the applicant. The assessment should consider normal industry approaches and standards applied by commodity and the general economic environment, including pricing and cost of capital.

Economic viability assessment for a retention licence

A retention licence applicant must demonstrate that the Mineral Resource is not currently economically viable to mine but that there is potential that the resource may become economically viable to mine in the future: section 14C(1)(a)(i).

This can be done by providing an early-stage conceptual potential economic assessment (like a Scoping Study or a Preliminary Economic Assessment) which should outline the further technical work that is needed to establish the future economic potential of the mineral resource. The economic assessment and further technical work must be prepared by a qualified person with relevant experience in Mineral Resource economic modelling. A summary of their relevant experience with respect to the economic assessment should be provided.

A Scoping or Pre-Feasibility study may have been completed to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the range of technical and economic factors or scenarios that need to be established to assess potential economic viability (see the JORC Code). If a study has been completed, a description and summary of the findings of this study should be provided with the application.

A costed and timed program of work should be attached that details activities that will be undertaken to establish economic viability during retention licence tenure. Additional matters for consideration may include the grade (quality), scale, depth, mining and mineral processing methods, and marketability of the mineral or product(s) derived from it.

Economic viability assessment for a mining licence

A mining licence applicant must demonstrate that the mineral resource is currently economically viable to mine, appropriate for the scale of the operation and the mineral resource to be mined. This can be done by one or both of the following:

• A comprehensive study of the technical and economic viability of the mineral resource which demonstrates that the preferred mining method and mineral processing routes have been determined. For a large-scale mining operation this study should be equivalent to a Pre-Feasibility Study or Feasibility Study under the JORC Code.
• The applicant’s commitment to mining, including the formal decision to proceed to mining made by the applicant (e.g. company board decision), the mine schedule, and any financing, contractual arrangements and approvals already in place.

Where a study has been completed, a description and summary of the findings of the study should be provided in the mineralisation report.

Glossary and abbreviations

Legislative references in the ‘Source’ column below relate to the Act and the Regulations.

Page last updated: 05 Sep 2025