Canada has a long and storied mining heritage and continues to be a global leader for mineral investment. However, since the last 2011 amendment to National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) (the governing set of rules on the scientific and technical disclosure standards required for mineral projects), there have been major updates and advances in the mining industry. These range from the techniques used for mineral exploration, to emerging investor demand for information regarding environmental and social impact, to changing global disclosure standards in other major mining jurisdictions and updated Canadian professional industry best practices. As such, on April 14, 2022, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published a consultation paper seeking public commentary to improve and modernize NI 43-101 and Form 43-101F1 Technical Report, to address key concerns expressed by stakeholders and disclosure deficiencies noted by the CSA.
The consultation paper sets out 38 questions on various elements of the disclosure regime for public comment. Interested investment fund managers and advisers looking to incorporate or expand their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) offerings will welcome that the CSA has highlighted the need to provide more meaningful project specific ESG-risk disclosure, and is considering whether disclosure of community consultations should be required at all stages of technical reports. The CSA have also highlighted the need to include specific disclosures regarding the risks surrounding the impact of a project on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and whether additional experts are required to validate an issuer's disclosure of those risks. Some other concerns highlighted to assist investors include the need for improved disclosure of data verification procedures and results by qualified persons, changes to the disclosure regime surrounding project cost estimates, and improved methods of presenting economic analyses.
The 90-day comment period will conclude on July 13, 2022.
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