Services › Category 17 of 18
Finance, valuation & reporting
Technical reports, valuation and project finance
This is the work of turning a deposit into something an investor, a lender or a securities regulator will accept as a number. The core service is the technical report, prepared by a qualified person, that supports any public disclosure of exploration results, mineral resources or mineral reserves. Resource and reserve estimation sits underneath it: geological modelling, grade interpolation, classification into measured, indicated and inferred resources and proven and probable reserves, and the mine plan, cost and price assumptions that convert resources into reserves. Above it sit staged technical and economic studies, an initial assessment, a preliminary feasibility study and a feasibility study, each with a defined accuracy band and a defined role in what may be claimed. Alongside all of that are independent valuation for transactions and fairness opinions, project finance and lender's independent engineer reviews, royalty and streaming structuring, and listing and continuous disclosure compliance. The single most important point for a US audience is that since 2021 the governing rule for SEC registrants is Regulation S-K subpart 1300, not Canada's NI 43-101, and the two define a qualified person differently.
13 firms working in this trade
Alphabetical. Nobody paid to be here
- Associated Geologists, Inc.Castle Pines, Colorado
Mineral, quarry and mine property appraisals and reserve estimation
mineralvaluation.com - Forte Dynamics, Inc.Fort Collins, Colorado
Open pit and heap leach mine planning, modelling and studies
fortedynamics.com - Global Resource EngineeringGolden, Colorado
Resource and reserve estimation, mine design and technical reporting
global-resource-eng.com - Global Valuation & Consulting, LLCPort St. Lucie, Florida
Mining and mineral property appraisals and reserve valuation
globalvaluation.com - Gustavson AssociatesBoulder, Colorado
Resource and reserve evaluation, technical audits and mineral appraisal
gustavson.com - Hard Rock ConsultingAurora, Colorado
Technical services for mineral projects from prospect through post-closure
hardrock-consulting.com - Independent Mining Consultants, Inc.Tucson, Arizona
Resource and reserve modelling, reserve audits and feasibility studies
imctucson.com - John T. Boyd CompanyCanonsburg, Pennsylvania
Coal and mineral reserve evaluation, valuation and expert testimony
jtboyd.com - Mineral Valuation SpecialistsPhoenix, Arizona
Mineral interest and mining business valuations, due diligence, expert testimony
minvalspec.com - RESPECRapid City, South Dakota
Engineering and earth sciences consulting with a mining practice
respec.com - Ridgefield PartnersDenver, Colorado
Mining mergers and acquisitions advisory, valuation and capital strategy
ridgefieldpartners.com - SGSBloomfield, New Jersey
Independent resource and reserve estimation and qualified person services
sgs.com - SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc.Denver, Colorado
Mineral resources and reserves, independent reporting and due diligence
srk.com
Listed because we found them, not because they asked or paid. Every entry was checked against the company’s own website; none of it is an endorsement, and we have no commercial relationship with anyone on this page. Work in Finance, valuation and reporting and want to be added, corrected or removed? Tell us — it is free either way.
How it is actually bought
Contract shapes and what they price
Technical reports and estimation work are bought as fixed-fee professional engagements scoped to a named property and a named effective date, and the engagement letter names the qualified person as an individual, states what they are signing, and covers the written consent the filing requires. Independent valuation and fairness opinions are bought on a fixed fee deliberately unconnected to the transaction outcome, because a success fee compromises the independence the opinion exists to provide. Lender's independent engineer and technical due diligence work is usually commissioned by the lender but paid by the borrower, which means the borrower pays for a report it does not control; access and comment rights are a negotiated term, not a default. Liability is layered and does not move: the registrant remains responsible for its disclosure and for verifying the qualified person's qualifications, while the qualified person signs and dates the report summary and may not disclaim responsibility for the third-party specialist content inside it. A typical engagement runs from a data review and site visit, to a draft estimate and study, to a signed and dated technical report summary filed as an exhibit with a consent, with a re-issue triggered by any material change.
Who regulates it
And what each one requires of this trade
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — Sets and enforces the mining disclosure rules for registrants through Regulation S-K subpart 1300 and the associated exhibit requirements; the rule replaced the old Industry Guide 7 regime and reviews are run by the Division of Corporation Finance.
- State securities regulators — Have their own registration, exemption and anti-fraud authority over offerings, which matters for private placements and non-listed mining raises; the national association of those regulators publishes the directory for finding the right one by state.
- Canadian provincial securities regulators — Administer National Instrument 43-101, which applies to reporting issuers in Canadian jurisdictions; relevant to a US buyer only where the project or the issuer is also Canadian-listed, in which case two different qualified person tests apply to the same property.
The standards that apply
Ask which of these a firm works to
- Regulation S-K subpart 1300, 17 CFR 229.1300 to 229.1305 — The governing US mining disclosure rule: 229.1300 definitions (including qualified person, mineral resource, mineral reserve and the three study levels), 229.1301 general instructions, 229.1302 qualified person and technical report summary, 229.1303 summary disclosure, 229.1304 individual property disclosure and 229.1305 internal controls disclosure.
- 17 CFR 229.1302 (qualified person, technical report summary and technical studies) — Sets what the qualified person must do, when a technical report summary must be filed, the written consent requirement, and the accuracy and contingency bands that distinguish an initial assessment from a preliminary feasibility study and a feasibility study.
- Exhibit 96, technical report summary, under 17 CFR 229.601(b)(96) — The exhibit slot the technical report summary is actually filed in, required on Forms S-1, S-3, S-4, F-1, F-3, F-4, 10 and 10-K; the expert's written consent is filed separately as an Exhibit 23.
- National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects — The Canadian rule, applying to reporting issuers in Canadian jurisdictions, which incorporates the CIM definition standards for measured, indicated and inferred resources and proven and probable reserves. It is not the US rule and does not by itself satisfy SEC subpart 1300.
- CRIRSCO International Reporting Template — The international template that harmonises the family of national reporting codes, drawing on the JORC Code, SAMREC, PERC, the CIM guidelines, the SME Guide and Chile's Certification Code; it is the common ancestry that makes resource and reserve categories broadly comparable across jurisdictions.
What to demand from a firm
Credentials worth checking before you sign
- Qualified person as defined in 17 CFR 229.1300 — Two tests must both be met: a mineral industry professional with at least five years of relevant experience in the type of mineralisation and deposit under consideration and in the specific activity being undertaken, and eligible membership in good standing of a recognised professional organisation meeting the rule's criteria on academic qualification, standards, ethics, continuing education, disciplinary authority and a public member list.
- SME Registered Member — A membership designation built specifically to meet the S-K 1300 qualified person criteria: a relevant university degree, a minimum of seven years of professional experience in the minerals industry with at least three in a position of responsibility, plus either state licensure recognised by the geology licensure board, a certified professional geologist credential, a US PE or Canadian PEng or PGeo, or three endorsements from existing registered members, and acceptance of the society's code of ethics.
- State Professional Geologist or Professional Engineer licensure — Underpins the qualified person route in most cases and is what makes the individual answerable to a disciplinary authority; licensure is granted jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and the licensure bodies publish public indexes so a buyer can verify the licence rather than take the CV's word for it.
- A written consent from the named qualified person — 17 CFR 229.1302 requires the qualified person to provide written consent to the use of their name or of quotations from the technical report summary, and to disclose their employment status and any affiliation with the registrant; no consent means no usable filing.
Where to find firms yourself
Public registers and member directories
- SME Registered Member Directory — Directory of the US minerals society's Registered Members, the searchable list of individuals holding the designation built to meet the S-K 1300 qualified person criteria. The list is browsable and sortable, though contact details require a login.
- EDGAR full-text search — Free public search across the full text of electronic SEC filings since 2001, with form type and date filters. Searching for technical report summary exhibits on comparable properties shows you which qualified persons are actually signing US filings, and what a compliant report looks like.
- ASBOG State Board Index — Jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction index of professional geology licensure covering all 50 states and Puerto Rico, used to verify that a qualified person's licence is live in a jurisdiction with disciplinary authority over them.
- NASAA Contact Your Regulator — Directory of state, provincial and territorial securities regulators, which is where to check the standing of a promoter or an offering and to find the rules that apply to a non-listed raise.
Numbers worth knowing
Each one carries its source
The compliance date for Regulation S-K subpart 1300, adopted as Release Nos. 33-10570 and 34-84509, File No. S7-10-16, 'Modernization of Property Disclosures for Mining Registrants', effective 25 February 2019. Industry Guide 7 remained effective only until all registrants were required to comply with the new rules, at which point it was rescinded.
sourceThe minimum relevant experience a qualified person must have under 17 CFR 229.1300, and it must be in the type of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and in the specific activity being undertaken, not five years in mining generally.
sourceInitial assessment level under 17 CFR 229.1302: it supports mineral resources only, cash flow analysis is optional, and where one is included the accuracy band is plus or minus 50 percent with a contingency not exceeding 25 percent. Inferred resources may be used in the economic analysis if properly disclosed.
sourcePreliminary feasibility study level under 17 CFR 229.1302, the minimum study level that can support mineral reserves; it requires a detailed discounted cash flow analysis and must exclude inferred mineral resources from the demonstration of economic viability.
sourceFeasibility study level under 17 CFR 229.1302, needed to support proven mineral reserves, with finalised mining methods, completed pilot plant testing where risk warrants it, and final environmental and permitting analysis.
sourceHow this goes wrong
The specific traps, not general advice
- Commissioning an NI 43-101 technical report and assuming it satisfies the SEC. For a US registrant the governing rule has been Regulation S-K subpart 1300 since the first fiscal year beginning on or after 1 January 2021, Industry Guide 7 is gone, and a Canadian-format report is a starting document that needs to be reworked and re-signed to the US definitions.
- Hiring a firm rather than a named individual. The rule's qualified person test is about a person's five years of experience in that deposit type and that activity, plus eligible membership of a recognised professional organisation; a well-known consultancy letterhead does not satisfy it and cannot be verified against a public member list.
- Buying an initial assessment and then describing the result as reserves. An initial assessment supports resources only; reserves require at least a preliminary feasibility study, and proven reserves require a feasibility study, each with its own accuracy and contingency band.
- Letting inferred resources leak into the economics that support reserves. 17 CFR 229.1302 requires inferred resources to be excluded from the demonstration of economic viability for reserves, and this is a common way a study gets sent back.
- Forgetting the consent and the exhibit mechanics. The technical report summary goes in as Exhibit 96 and the qualified person's written consent as an Exhibit 23, and a qualified person who has finished the work but will not consent, or who is an undisclosed affiliate of the issuer, stalls the filing.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Are you a qualified person for this commodity, under which code?
- What is the effective date of the estimate, and what has changed since?
- Where does your fee sit if the project does not proceed?
Where to next
Other mining services
Everything that does not fit a box above
PreviousLabor, safety & training
Crews, MSHA training, rescue and staffing
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