In October 2024, Montage Gold put together US$825 million to build the Koné gold mine in Côte d'Ivoire. Nobody lent that money on the strength of a licence. The financiers read a feasibility study promising sixteen years of production, and resource and reserve figures prepared under a recognised standard, signed by professionals who answer for them.
That vocabulary, resources, reserves, Competent Person, prefeasibility, is what separates mining projects that get financed from those that stay on paper. Here it is, explained, with the documents to request before you invest, the risks, and how mines are being financed in West Africa today.
The standards: JORC, NI 43-101 and the others
A listed mining company cannot announce any figure it likes. Each major exchange imposes a reporting standard:
- the JORC Code in Australia, applied by the ASX;
- NI 43-101 in Canada, applied by the Canadian securities regulators with the CIM Definition Standards;
- SAMREC in South Africa, PERC in Europe, and S-K 1300 in the United States.
All of them come from the same root, the international template of CRIRSCO. They use the same categories, and NI 43-101 accepts a report prepared under JORC, PERC or SAMREC.
The JORC Code in force dates from 2012. A new edition is on its way: a draft released on 1 August 2024 drew more than 8,200 comments, a revised draft went out in June 2025, and in March 2026 the JORC Committee said the provisional 2026 Code would go to the ASX, ASIC, CRIRSCO and the parent bodies in early Q2 2026 for a final review before approval.
The Competent Person
No public figure stands without a signature. The JORC Code requires any public report to rest on work by a Competent Person: a member or fellow of the AusIMM, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists or a recognised professional organisation, with at least five years of experience relevant to the style of deposit and to the activity being reported.
NI 43-101 calls it a Qualified Person: an engineer or geoscientist with at least five years in exploration, mine development, operation or project assessment, and a member in good standing of a professional association. That person puts their professional standing on the line. A number with no name and no qualification behind it is worth nothing.
Exploration results, resources, reserves
| Category | What it means | What it can support |
|---|---|---|
| Exploration results | Drill holes, trenches, assays: indications, not yet a deposit | A decision to drill more |
| Inferred resource | Tonnage and grade estimated from limited data | A scoping study, never a reserve |
| Indicated resource | Enough data to estimate with reasonable confidence | Conversion to a probable reserve, after study |
| Measured resource | Closely spaced data, a reliable estimate | Conversion to a proved or probable reserve, after study |
| Probable reserve | The part of an indicated resource that can be mined at a profit | A mine plan and financing |
| Proved reserve | The part of a measured resource that can be mined at a profit | A mine plan and financing |
The step from resource to reserve is the one that matters. A reserve applies the modifying factors: the mining method, dilution, processing, infrastructure, costs, prices, law, environment and social acceptance. A resource of 3 million ounces is not 3 million saleable ounces. And an inferred resource never becomes a reserve until it has been drilled further.
The studies: scoping, prefeasibility, feasibility
A mining project moves through studies of rising cost and precision: the scoping study, called a preliminary economic assessment in Canada, then the prefeasibility study, then the feasibility study, called definitive when it prepares the decision to build.
Their real accuracy is worse than people assume. AMC Consultants compared cost estimates with outcomes across many projects and found ranges of minus 50 to plus 30% for scoping studies, minus 27 to plus 30% for prefeasibility, and minus 20 to plus 27% for feasibility. The plus or minus 10% often quoted, AMC says, is rarely achieved outside the processing plant.
The documents to ask for
Before you go into a project, ask at minimum for:
- the mining title and mining agreement, checked at the cadastre;
- the latest technical report, under JORC (with its Table 1) or NI 43-101, signed by its Competent or Qualified Person;
- the drill hole database and assay certificates from an accredited laboratory;
- the assay quality control: standards, blanks and duplicates;
- the metallurgical test work, which tells you whether the ore can be processed and at what recovery;
- the environmental and social impact assessment, and the State's approval;
- the approvals of past transfers and the record of fees paid.
The firms that sign these documents
Technical reports of listed companies are signed by geology and mining engineering consultancies whose names come back from one report to the next: SRK Consulting, AMC Consultants, Snowden Optiro, SLR, Wardell Armstrong and CSA Global, among others. Feasibility studies bring in engineering firms, and financings bring in specialist law firms: on the Koné financing, for instance, the Canadian firm Torys acted for Zijin Mining. A report signed by a known firm is no guarantee. A report signed by nobody is a red flag.
The risks
- Geological risk: the deposit is smaller, lower grade or harder to process than expected.
- Legal and political risk: on 16 June 2025, the Bamako commercial court put Barrick's Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex under provisional administration. The dispute ended with an agreement on 24 November 2025: about FCFA 143 billion paid to the State, Barrick signing up to the 2023 mining code, and a ten year extension of the permit.
- Security risk, acute in the Sahel, on sites and supply routes.
- Infrastructure risk: power, water, roads, port.
- Price and currency risk over the life of the mine.
How a mine gets financed
- On the stock market: exploration companies raise money in Sydney, Toronto or London on the strength of their technical reports.
- Through streaming: a financier pays upfront for part of future production. At Koné, Wheaton Precious Metals pays US$625 million for 19.5% of payable gold up to 400,000 ounces, then a stepped down share.
- Through a strategic shareholder: Zijin Mining put US$125 million into Koné, split between a loan and a redeemable gold stream. In Mali, China's Hainan group invested US$117.75 million in Kodal Minerals' Bougouni lithium project, a deal completed in November 2023.
- Through debt: bank loans and project finance facilities once reserves are established.
Our view
Plenty of projects circulate with an impressive number and no documents behind it. The vocabulary in this article is the best filter we know. Which standard? Which category? Which Competent Person? Which study? A serious seller answers those four questions by sending documents. The others change the subject.
West Africa has world class deposits, and the money exists: Koné proved it. What is most often missing is not the capital. It is the technical file that allows you to raise it.
Frequently asked questions
What is JORC in mining?
It is the Australasian code for reporting exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves, applied by the ASX. The edition in force dates from 2012, and a new edition is being finalised.
What is the difference between a mineral resource and a reserve?
A resource is an estimated concentration of mineralisation. A reserve is the part of that resource that can be mined at a profit once costs, technical constraints, law and environment are taken into account.
What is a Competent Person under JORC?
A professional who is a member of a recognised body such as the AusIMM or the AIG, with at least five years of experience on the type of deposit concerned, and who signs and answers for the published figures.
What is the difference between JORC and NI 43-101?
JORC is Australian and NI 43-101 is Canadian. They share the same categories, derived from the CRIRSCO template, and NI 43-101 accepts reports prepared under JORC.
Can a mine be financed on an inferred resource?
No. An inferred resource can support a scoping study, but it cannot become a reserve without more drilling. Lenders funding construction look at reserves and the feasibility study.
What we do
GraceRoad works for buyers and investors on mandate, with a fixed sourcing fee agreed upfront and a precise specification: mineral, country, grade, size. Before we present a project or a licence, we ask for the documents on this list and check who signed them. We work with recognised geologists and mining lawyers, and we tell you when a file does not stand up.
Read next: how to get a mining license in West Africa and mine load-out operations in West Africa.
Sources: JORC Committee, "Competent Persons" page and "JORC Update" of March 2026; Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, 2012 edition; Canadian Securities Administrators, National Instrument 43-101, and CIM Definition Standards (2014); CRIRSCO; AMC Consultants, "Why feasibility studies fail"; Mining Weekly and The Northern Miner, 24 October 2024, on the Koné financing; Torys, "Koné Gold Project" matter note; Mining Weekly, 15 November 2023, on the Bougouni financing; Barrick Mining, press release of 24 November 2025 and 2025 Form 40-F, on Loulo-Gounkoto.