Brazil’s mineral resources to be reported in line with international standards

​On February 8, 2022, the Brazilian Mining Agency (ANM) published Resolution No. 94, regulating the classification of mineral resources and reserves according to internationally accepted standards. As it improves transparency in the Brazilian mineral sector and closely aligns with international practices, the new resolution is particularly important for mining companies with international investors or financiers.

The resolution is set to take effect from August 7, 2022 — 180 days from the date of publication.

Moreover, Resolution No. 94 creates the Brazilian Mineral Resources and Reserves System (SBRR). Documents linked to mineral rights proceedings or public statements submitted to the ANM will be fed into the SBRR, a set of rules and procedures to manage mineral resources and reserves information.

The ANM’s role

First and foremost, it must be emphasized that the ANM should not be understood as a certifying body, nor will it become one with the new resolution. Rather, the ANM’s role will be to manage a system with data on mineral resources and reserves in order to consolidate Brazil’s mineral inventory, assist with policy formation for the sector and improve management of mineral rights.

International standards

Brazil has been a member of the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO) since 2015. The committee is among the main international entities for defining best practices for classifying and reporting mineral properties. However, prior to ANM Resolution No. 94, criteria for sending data to the ANM were not in line with internationally recognized standards, such as NI 43-101 (Canada) or JORC (Australasia).

The new resolution now defines the concepts of exploration potential, modifying factors, and – in particular – mineral resources (as measured, indicated and inferred) and mineral reserves (as probable or proved). Previously, Brazilian regulations only addressed the concept of reserves (classifying them as measured, indicated and inferred), in contrast to international standards. The new concepts thus ensure consistency in the nomenclature used in Brazil and internationally.

Public statements of resources and reserves

The ANM’s new resolution has also introduced the option for companies to submit public statements on mineral resources and reserves in accordance with international standards to the ANM. These statements will summarize the information stemming from exploration works and be included in the SBRR. Disclosing this information should provide more transparency to individual mining projects’ mineral resources and reserves, and to the Brazilian mining sector as a whole.

Statements will be classified into three categories – exploration results statements, mineral resource statements and mineral reserve statements. Any such declarations will not be considered confidential, and therefore companies who opt to submit reports will tacitly accept that the reported information may be publicly disclosed.

Transition period

The new concepts that the resolution introduces will even be applied to documents the ANM has received prior to the resolution taking effect, as part of a transition towards the new framework. As a result, final exploration reports that refer to “measured, indicated and inferred reserves” will be interpreted and understood as “measured, indicated and inferred resources“.

Moreover, mine development plans (planos de aproveitamento econômico) submitted to the ANM before the new resolution takes effect will be understood as follows:

• The economically mineable portion of a measured reserve is to be interpreted as a proved reserve, while the portion that is not considered economically mineable will be interpreted as a measured resource;
• An indicated reserve will be interpreted as a probable reserve, provided it is economically mineable. Otherwise, it will be understood as an indicated resource;
• An inferred reserve will be interpreted as an inferred resource.

Concessionaires must start to use the concepts and nomenclature in the resolution whenever updates are made to mine development plans, resource and reserve reassessment reports, mineral substance amendments, or when there are general updates to technical documents.

Improving Brazil’s mineral sector

By publishing Resolution No. 94 and establishing the SBRR, the ANM has taken an important step towards making Brazil’s mining sector compatible with the international sphere. Once the new rules take effect in August 2022, there will no longer be a need for companies that report their projects internationally to alter their reporting to meet specific Brazilian requirements, as has been the case to date. These new measures contribute to improved levels of transparency and governance within Brazil’s mining sector.

For more information on the new resolution and classification framework, please contact Mattos Filho’s Infrastructure & Energy practice area.

*With the collaboration of Lucas José Russo