The Australian Stock Exchange is calling for comments from stakeholders on a consultation paper it has released on the Listing Rule reporting requirements that apply to mining, and oil and gas companies.


Promoting confidence in reporting of reserves and resources, reducing the potential of misleading information and increasing efficiency in companies’ capital raising process are among the key issues on the agenda.


Issues outlined in the discussion paper include:

Disclosure of exploration and drill results: whether disclosure of drill-hole and intercept information when reporting exploration results would benefit investors.


Disclosure of exploration targets: whether stricter application of the current requirement for proximate cautionary statements would mitigate the risks of investors being misled by the reporting of exploration target ranges.


Defining the level of study underpinning an initial Ore Reserve estimate: whether the completion of at least a preliminary feasibility study to support an initial ore reserve determination should be required.


Disclosure of production targets: whether issuers should observe stricter and more comprehensive disclosure standards to improve investors’ appreciation of risks, reliability and basis for the reported production target or forecast financial information derived from a production target.


Annual reporting and Reconciliation of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves: whether issuers should report the results of their annual review of their Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves and their aggregated Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves holdings, together with a reconciliation with the estimates from the previous year, in their annual report or a separate document released concurrently with, and cross-referenced in, the annual report to provide for additional transparency and investor accessibility of this information.

 

Comments are due by 27 January 2012.

 

The discussion paper is available here