Samcode - About SAMCODE

About SAMCODE

Patrons of the SSC Committee

The SSC operates under the joint auspices of
The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM)
http://www.saimm.co.za

The Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA).
http://www.gssa.org.za
The GSSA was established in 1895, and is one of the oldest and largest societies of its kind in Africa. The GSSA promotes the study of the earth sciences, facilitates the professional development of its members, and advances the use of geoscience in the academic, professional, and public sectors.

Members of the SSC Committee

The Members of the SSC, each of which is entitled to one representative, are:
•   Association of Law Societies of South Africa
•   Chamber of Mines of South Africa
•   The Council for Geoscience
•   Council for Professional Land Surveyors and Technical Surveyors
•   Department of Minerals and Energy
•   Engineering Council of South Africa
•   Geological Society of South Africa
•   Geostatistical Association of South Africa
•   General Council of the Bar of South Africa
•   Investment Analysts Society
•   JSE Limited
•   Minerals Bureau
•   The Banking Association of South Africa
•   South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions
•   Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

Working Groups

The current Working Groups are:
The Main Working Group (Chairperson: Mike O'Brien)
The Oil and Gas Working Group (Chairman: Malcolm Wood)

Monitoring of Reporting Standards

The SSC maintains a Reader’s Panel which reviews all Competent Person’s Reports and Mineral Asset Valuation reports submitted to the JSE Limited.
Reports will be reviewed for compliance with the JSE Listings Rules that incorporate the SAMREC and SAMVAL Codes.

What is the Samcode group of Codes?

The first version of the SAMREC Code (the South African Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves was issued in March 2000, and was incorporated in the JSE Listings Rules (Section 12) shortly thereafter. A revised edition was completed in 2007, and was accepted by the Councils of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) and the Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA) in mid-2007, and as such is binding on those members. This edition is currently being incorporated in the updated listings rules of the JSE Ltd.
The SAMREC Code sets out minimum standards, recommendations and guidelines for Public Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves in South Africa.
The process for establishing the SAMVAL Code (the South African Code for Reporting of Mineral Asset Valuations) was initiated through an open meeting at a colloquium convened by the SAIMM in March 2002. Various papers and articles were published on the matter and the colloquium called for comment and mandates. This Code is currently being completed, and will be available for comment by early 2008.
Similarly, the SAMVAL Code sets out minimum standards, recommendations and guidelines for Public Reporting of Mineral Asset Valuation in South Africa.
In addition, in late 2005 it was decided that an Oil and Gas Code would be developed as a separate Code.

History of the Samcodes

In 1992 a committee was formed by the Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA), including the Geostatistical Association of South Africa (CMMI), in response to the Council of Mining and Metallurgical Institutions (CMMI), to compile the first South African Code for reporting mineral resource and mineral reserves. The final draft (‘Draft 6’) was presented in conjunction with the SAIMM for discussion at the 1994 CMMI Conference at Sun City and to the JSE Listing Committee. In 1994, the CMMI formed an ad-hoc International Definitions Group to create a set of international definitions for reporting mineral resources and mineral reserves with representatives from mining and metallurgical institutions from the United States (SME), Australia (AusIMM), Canada (CIM), the United Kingdom (IMM) and South Africa (SAIMM).
A major break-through came in October 1997 when the CMMI International Definitions Group met in Denver, Colorado and reached a provisional agreement (the Denver Accord) on definitions of mineral resources and mineral reserves. The definitions in the SAMREC Code are consistent with those agreed at the Denver Accord by the CMMI participants.
In late 2004 the update of the SAMREC Code commenced, culminating in a revised version being issued in mid 2007.

What is a Competent Person?

A ‘Competent Person’ is a person who is registered with either:

SACNASP, ECSA or PLATO
Or is a Member or Fellow of the SAIMM, or the GSSA
Or is a Member or Fellow of a Recognised Overseas Professional Organisation (ROPO)

A Competent Person must have:
• A minimum of 5 (five) years experience relevant to the

style of mineralisation
and type of deposit or class of deposit under consideration
and to the activity which that person is undertaking.

If the Competent Person is estimating or supervising the estimation of Mineral Resources, the relevant experience must be in the estimation, assessment and evaluation of Mineral Resources.
If the Competent Person is estimating, or supervising the estimation of Mineral Reserves, the relevant experience must be in the estimation, assessment, evaluation and assessment of the economic extraction of Mineral Reserves.
Persons being called upon to sign as a Competent Person must be clearly satisfied in their own minds that they are able to face their peers and demonstrate competence in the commodity, type of deposit and situation under consideration.
Please see the SAMREC Code for further information.

What is a ROPO?

A ROPO is a Recognised Overseas Professional Organisation. The criteria for a ROPO are that the organisation must:

Be a self-regulatory organisation covering professionals in the mining and/or exploration industry;
Admit members primarily on the basis of their academic qualifications and experience;
Require compliance with the professional standards of competence and ethics established by the organisation; and
Have disciplinary powers, including the power to suspend or expel a member.

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