The Canadian Securities Administrators (the "CSA") have issued a notice and request for comment regarding proposed changes to National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (the "Instrument") and its related forms and policies.
Some of the significant proposed changes to the Instrument include the following:
- Eliminating the requirement to obtain updated certificates and consents from qualified persons in connection with the filing of a disclosure document where there is no new material scientific or technical information not included in a previously filed technical report.
- Eliminating the current prescriptive list of recognized foreign codes and allowing foreign issuers to use any generally accepted foreign code that defines mineral resources and mineral reserves in a manner consistent with the Instrument.
- Eliminating the requirement for reconciliation of mineral resources and mineral reserves categories under accepted foreign codes to the corresponding categories under the Instrument.
- Expanding the definition of "qualified person" by replacing the current list of recognized foreign professional associations with a set of qualitative criteria.
- Exempting royalty holders from the requirement to prepare a technical report if the relevant information has been disclosed by the operator of the property and the operator is subject to the Instrument or is a producing issuer listed on a specified exchange (ASX, JSE, LSE, Nasdaq, NYSE or HKSE).
- Extending the deadline to file a technical report on a newly acquired property to six months if another issuer previously filed a technical report on the acquired property and that report is still current.
The CSA has requested comments generally on the proposed changes to the Instrument and in particular with respect to the following items:
- whether to keep, modify or eliminate the short form prospectus trigger for a technical report currently found in the Instrument; and
- the usefulness of the current provisions of the Instrument that allow an issuer to postpone personal inspections of an early stage exploration property by a qualified person where the property is affected by seasonal weather conditions preventing access by the qualified person.
Davies will be preparing a comment letter in response to the CSA's request prior to the July 23, 2010 deadline. If you have questions regarding the proposed changes or would like assistance in preparing a comment letter, please contact us.
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