What is a Competent Person under the JORC Code?

A Competent Person (CP) is a minerals industry professional who takes technical responsibility for a Public Report under the JORC Code. Clause 11 defines a Competent Person as someone who is a Member or Fellow of AusIMM, AIG, or a Recognised Professional Organisation (RPO), and who has a minimum of five years relevant experience in the style of mineralisation or type of deposit under consideration, and in the activity which that person is undertaking.

What qualifications does a Competent Person need?

A Competent Person must be a Member or Fellow of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG), or a Recognised Professional Organisation (RPO) listed by JORC and the ASX. They must also have a minimum of five years relevant experience in the style of mineralisation and in the specific technical activity — exploration, resource estimation, or reserve assessment — being reported.

What does 'relevant experience' mean for a Competent Person?

The Code requires that experience be relevant to the specific deposit type and the activity being undertaken. For Exploration Results, experience must be in exploration. For Mineral Resources, experience must be in estimation, assessment and evaluation of Mineral Resources. For Ore Reserves, experience must include economic extraction. Experience in a comparable mineralisation style may count; experience in a very different deposit type may not.

What is the difference between signing documentation and consenting to a Public Report?

Signing the underlying documentation (Clause 10) and consenting to the Public Report (Clause 9) are two distinct obligations. Under Clause 10 the Competent Person signs the technical documentation the Public Report is based on. Under Clause 9 the Competent Person separately consents to the form and context in which that documentation is presented to the market. Both are required.

What is a Competent Person?

Q: Can more than one Competent Person sign a Public Report?

Yes. Where there is a clear division of responsibility, each Competent Person should be identified and accept responsibility for their contribution. If only one Competent Person signs the documentation, that person takes responsibility for the whole — including work contributed by others. The Code is explicit that this responsibility is not a formality.

The Competent Person (CP) is the qualified professional who takes technical responsibility for a Public Report under the JORC Code. Every Public Report containing Exploration Targets, Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves must name at least one Competent Person.

The Clause 11 definition

Clause 11 of the JORC 2012 Code defines a Competent Person as a minerals industry professional who is:

A Member or Fellow of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), or of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG), or of a Recognised Professional Organisation (RPO) included on the list maintained by JORC and the ASX; and
Has a minimum of five years relevant experience in the style of mineralisation or type of deposit under consideration, and in the activity which that person is undertaking.

The professional organisations listed above have enforceable disciplinary processes, including the power to suspend or expel a member. This enforceability is integral to the Competence principle of the Code. The current list of RPOs is maintained on the JORC and ASX websites.

What “relevant” experience means

The Code is specific about what experience counts, and the activity must match what the person is actually doing:

For a report on Exploration Results, the Competent Person’s relevant experience must be in exploration.
For a report estimating or supervising the estimation of Mineral Resources, the relevant experience must be in the estimation, assessment and evaluation of Mineral Resources.
For a report estimating or supervising the estimation of Ore Reserves, the relevant experience must be in the estimation, assessment, evaluation and economic extraction of Ore Reserves.

The word “relevant” requires judgement. Experience in a comparable mineralisation style may count; experience in a very different deposit type may not. The guidelines to Clause 11 give a specific example: a person with 20 years’ experience estimating Mineral Resources for a variety of metalliferous hard-rock deposit types may not require five years’ specific experience in porphyry copper deposits. The key test is whether the existing experience is genuinely relevant to the deposit and activity under consideration.

The guidelines also note that a Competent Person taking responsibility for Exploration Results or Mineral Resource estimates should have sufficient experience in the sampling and analytical techniques relevant to the deposit — enough to be aware of problems that could affect the reliability of data.

As a practical guide, the Code states that a person being called upon to act as Competent Person should be clearly satisfied that they could face their peers and demonstrate competence in the commodity, type of deposit, and situation under consideration. Where doubt exists, the Code recommends seeking opinions from appropriately experienced peers or declining to act.

Documentation responsibility

Clause 10 of the Code requires that the documentation on which a Public Report is based must be prepared by, or under the direction of, and signed by, a Competent Person. Where an Exploration Target is included in a Public Report, the same requirement applies: documentation must also be prepared by, or under the direction of, and signed by, a Competent Person. The documentation must provide a fair representation of the matters being reported.

The Competent Person’s consent to the Public Report itself is a separate act from signing the underlying documentation; both are required. See how CP consent works for the distinction between Clause 10 documentation signing and Clause 9 Public Report consent.

Multiple Competent Persons

Estimation of Mineral Resources may be a team effort. Estimation of Ore Reserves is very commonly a team effort involving several technical disciplines — mining, metallurgy, processing, and economics alongside geology. Where there is a clear division of responsibility, each Competent Person and their contribution should be identified, and responsibility accepted for that contribution.

If only one Competent Person signs the documentation, that person takes responsibility and accountability for the whole of the documentation under the Code — including work contributed by others. The Code is explicit that a Competent Person accepting overall responsibility must be satisfied that the work of other contributors is acceptable; the signature is not a formality.

Conflict of interest

Clause 9 of the Code places the disclosure obligation on the company: any potential for a conflict of interest by the Competent Person or a related party must be disclosed in the Public Report in accordance with the Transparency principle. Any other relationship of the Competent Person with the company making the report must also be disclosed. The Competent Person should ensure that the disclosure is made.

Overseas estimates

Where an ASX or NZX listed company reports overseas Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves prepared by a person who is not a member of AusIMM, AIG or an RPO, the company must nominate a Competent Person to take responsibility for the estimate. The guidelines to Clause 11 note that this person is accepting full responsibility under ASX and/or NZX listing rules and should not treat the process as a rubber-stamping exercise.

Professional accountability

Complaints about the professional work of a Competent Person are dealt with under the disciplinary procedures of the professional organisation to which that Competent Person belongs. The Code’s requirement that professional bodies have enforceable disciplinary processes — including suspension and expulsion — is what gives the Competence principle its practical force.

JORC 2026

A revised edition of the JORC Code is in preparation. This page describes the Competent Person definition as it stands in JORC 2012. The 2026 edition may alter the definition or requirements; these pages will be updated when the revised Code is finalised.

This page is an educational summary of the JORC 2012 Code. It is not legal or professional advice. Refer to the full Code text at jorc.org/docs and seek professional guidance specific to your situation.

TableOne Flow is built around the JORC 2012 Table 1 structure. If you draft or sign Table 1s, register your interest and tell us about your setup.

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