SAMREC/IASSA Squirrel Awards
The 2020 SAMREC/IASSA squirrel was awarded (in 2021) to
IMPALA PLATINUM HOLDINGS
Previous winners of the SAMREC/IASSA Squirrel award are:
Presented in 2020 for 2019 adjudication – Impala Platinum and Royal Bafokeng
Presented in 2019 for 2018 adjudication – Impala Platinum and Harmony GM
Presented in 2018 for 2017 adjudication – ARM and Royal Bafokeng
Presented in 2017 for 2016 adjudication – Impala Platinum and Keaton Energy
Presented in 2016 for 2015 adjudication – AngloGold Ashanti
Presented in 2015 for 2014 adjudication – Sibanye Gold and Gold Fields (joint award)
Presented in 2014 for 2013 adjudication – Gold Fields
Presented in 2013 for 2012 adjudication – Sibanye Gold
Presented in 2013 for 2011 adjudication – Gold Fields
Presented in 2011 for 2010 adjudication – Harmony Gold Mining Company.
Annual Process for determining the Squirrel Winners
Identification of eligible companies
- The Chairperson of the JSE Readers Panel for Solid Minerals (CRP) requests a current list of Mineral Companies from the JSE.
a) From this list, the companies (may number 50 or so) meeting the Award criteria are identified – eligible companies require a primary listing on the JSE and significant (>20%) mineral assets. - This list of eligible companies (may number between 25 to 30) is then scrutinised to ensure that all the companies really do meet the Awards criteria by the CRP.
- An effort is made to ensure a diversity of commodity focus.
- The latest Annual Reports are downloaded from the Company websites; caution is required:
a) some companies with a December year-end report published in late April or May, may be inserted into the review process towards the end of the year and,
b) some companies include all their reporting in one document, while others report segmentally, so multiple documents are required for the review process. - The list of eligible companies is sorted by Market Capitalisation (all at the same date). The distribution of Market Cap is strongly bi-modal; there is an order of magnitude difference between the High Cap Miners and the Low Cap Miners
Pre-selection
- This list is then presented to the pre-selection committee (PSC) for review and pre-selection prior to sharing with the wider panel for scoring the compliance to JSE listing requirements and SAMREC; the same scoring process to be followed by the wider panel. The PSC consists of the Chairperson of the Squirrel Awards, Chairperson of the JSE Readers Panel and the chairperson of the SAMCODES Standards Committee.
a) Each member of the PSC then scores a fair share (7 to 8) companies and submits their scores to the secretary of the CSA who collates and consolidates the resulting scores. After 2 weeks the PSC meet to review the scores of pre-selected companies. Based on the outcomes of these scores the finalist companies are identified.
b) This new list of High and Low Cap finalists (12-14 companies) is then sent by the CSA to the Secretary of the Squirrel Awards at the SAIMM.
Judging by Industry Experts
- The judging panel is a group of experts drawn from the mining industry and the JSE Readers Panel. The Squirrel Judging panel including the PSC receive the list of companies, a link to a Dropbox folder, the SAMREC judging sheet and a deadline by which the reports are to be completed.
- A judge must declare that by scoring an IAR, they have no interest or had any involvement in this company's report or company being judged for three years prior to date of the IAR.
- The panel members individually forward all their scores for the list of companies to the secretary of the Squirrel Awards who collates it on behalf of the CPA.
- This consolidated Judging sheet is then sent to the Chairperson who scrutinises the results and highlights anomalies in the scoring prior to the final Adjudication. Judges might be asked to revise their scores based on the evidence presented.
Adjudication
- The final adjudication happens at a meeting between the CRP & CPA to discuss the final scores and other matters relating to the reporting quality reviewed.
- The final winners are identified.
Award Winners
- The secretary of the Squirrel Awards advises IASSA of the winners.
- The awards are presented at the IASSA Awards Cocktail Party to which all SAMREC, SAMVAL and SSC members as well as judges are invited.