How to Read Exploration Results and Drill Intercepts
June 10, 2026Stock Promotion and Investor Protection: How to Spot Red Flags
June 10, 2026National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) is a Canadian Securities Administrators rule that governs how publicly listed companies must disclose scientific and technical information about mineral projects. It establishes mandatory standards for technical reports, requires a certified Qualified Person, and defines how mineral resource and reserve categories must be communicated to investors.
Why NI 43-101 Exists
Before NI 43-101 came into force in 2001, Canadian capital markets had experienced several high-profile cases of misleading or unverifiable mineral project claims. The regulation was introduced by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) to create a consistent, auditable framework for technical disclosure. Its purpose is transparency and standardisation, not valuation. A company filing a technical report under NI 43-101 is meeting a disclosure obligation; the existence or content of that report does not constitute a recommendation to purchase or sell any security, nor does it imply economic viability.
The instrument applies to all reporting issuers whose securities trade on Canadian exchanges or who file with Canadian provincial regulators. It is enforced by provincial securities commissions, including the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), among others.
The Qualified Person (QP)
At the centre of NI 43-101 is the Qualified Person concept. A QP is an individual who, under section 1.1 of the instrument, must be:
- an engineer or geoscientist with at least five years of relevant experience in the type of mineralisation or activity being reported on;
- a member in good standing of a recognised professional association that has disciplinary authority over its members;
- actively involved in the subject matter of the disclosure or technical report.
All written public technical disclosure, from a news release summarising drill results to a full technical report, must be based on information prepared by or under the supervision of a QP. The QP must consent to the use of their name and certify the document. This certification requirement is what gives the standard its accountability structure. The QP is professionally liable; their designation cannot simply be claimed, it must be backed by membership in a body such as Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC) or the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO).
For context on how QP-certified data appears in practice, see the guide on reading exploration results and drill intercepts.
The NI 43-101 Technical Report
A full technical report is a structured document with prescribed content requirements laid out in Form 43-101F1. Not every public disclosure triggers a technical report obligation, but specific events do, including an initial disclosure of a mineral resource or reserve, a material change to a previously reported estimate, and certain prospectus filings. The report must cover topics such as property description, geological setting, exploration history, sampling and analytical procedures, data verification, and, where applicable, the resource or reserve estimate methodology.
Technical reports are filed on SEDAR+, the Canadian regulatory filing system operated by the Canadian Securities Administrators. SEDAR+ is publicly accessible, meaning any investor or analyst can retrieve a filed technical report at no cost. The filing date, the QP’s credentials, and any subsequent amendments are all visible within the platform’s document record.
It is worth noting that a technical report is a point-in-time document. New drilling, revised metallurgical data, or updated economic parameters may render earlier estimates outdated, which is why tracking amendment filings on SEDAR+ matters when following a project over time.
CIM Definition Standards: Resources vs. Reserves
NI 43-101 does not itself define resource and reserve categories. Instead, it requires that estimates use the definitions adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) in its CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, most recently updated in 2014. Understanding the hierarchy of these categories is fundamental to interpreting any NI 43-101 compliant disclosure.
Mineral Resources
A Mineral Resource is a concentration or occurrence of solid material of economic interest in or on the Earth’s crust in such form, grade or quality, and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. The key phrase is “reasonable prospects” — this is a lower threshold than demonstrated economic viability. Resources are classified by increasing geological confidence:
| Category | Geological Confidence | Key Characteristic |
|---|---|---|
| Inferred | Lowest | Estimated from limited sampling; geological continuity is implied, not demonstrated. Cannot be converted directly to a reserve. |
| Indicated | Moderate | Based on adequately spaced sampling; sufficient confidence for mine planning scenarios but still subject to meaningful uncertainty. |
| Measured | Highest among resources | Closely spaced sampling provides high confidence in grade and continuity; can support detailed mine planning. |
A critical regulatory point: the CIM Definition Standards and NI 43-101 both state explicitly that Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves. Resources have not demonstrated economic viability. An Inferred Mineral Resource, in particular, carries the lowest level of geological confidence, and there is no certainty that it will be upgraded to an Indicated or Measured category through additional work. Readers should never assume that any resource estimate represents material that will be mined profitably.
Mineral Reserves
A Mineral Reserve is the economically mineable part of a Measured or Indicated Mineral Resource. The conversion from resource to reserve requires a detailed assessment, typically a prefeasibility or feasibility study, that incorporates mining, processing, metallurgical, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social, and governmental factors. Reserves are classified as:
- Probable Mineral Reserve: derived from an Indicated (or in some cases Measured) Mineral Resource with sufficient confidence in modifying factors for mine planning purposes.
- Proven Mineral Reserve: derived from a Measured Mineral Resource with a high degree of confidence in all modifying factors.
Because the reserve classification requires demonstrated economic viability under a stated set of assumptions (commodity prices, cost structures, permitting conditions), reserves represent a materially higher level of project certainty than resources. However, those assumptions can and do change; a reserve estimate is valid only under the conditions stated at the time of the study.
What NI 43-101 Does Not Do
NI 43-101 is a disclosure and transparency framework. It does not guarantee the accuracy of estimates, validate the economics of a project, or certify that a deposit will ever be mined. The regulation requires that technical information be prepared to a defined standard and by a qualified individual, but geological uncertainty, commodity price volatility, permitting risk, and capital cost variables remain entirely outside its scope.
Technical reports and resource estimates disclosed under NI 43-101 are not investment signals. The categories, tonnages, and grade figures in a technical report are scientific parameters under defined assumptions — they are not valuations, price targets, or indicators of future financial performance. Readers should treat them as technical context requiring further due diligence, including reviewing the full technical report methodology, the QP’s stated assumptions, and any caveats within the document itself.
For an overview of the companies operating in the Canadian small-cap mining space that Boersenpost tracks, see the companies Boersenpost covers.
FAQ
What is the difference between a Mineral Resource and a Mineral Reserve under NI 43-101?
Who can serve as a Qualified Person under NI 43-101?
Where can NI 43-101 technical reports be found?
Does an NI 43-101 technical report mean a project is economically viable?
Sources
Canadian Securities Administrators, National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (including Form 43-101F1 and Companion Policy 43-101CP), consolidated to 2016, csa-acvm-secretariat.ca. Accessed 2026-06-10; Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted May 10, 2014, mrmr.cim.org. Accessed 2026-06-10; Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines, November 29, 2019, mrmr.cim.org. Accessed 2026-06-10; Ontario Securities Commission, OSC Staff Notice 43-704 Continuous Disclosure Review Program — Mineral Project Disclosure, securities.ontario.ca. Accessed 2026-06-10; British Columbia Securities Commission, NI 43-101 Guidance and Policy Interpretation, bcsc.bc.ca. Accessed 2026-06-10; SEDAR+ (System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval Plus), Canadian Securities Administrators public filing platform, sedarplus.ca. Accessed 2026-06-10; Canadian Securities Administrators, CSA Staff Notice 43-307 Mining Technical Reports — Preliminary Economic Assessments, csa-acvm-secretariat.ca. Accessed 2026-06-10; Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC), Professional Practice Guidelines — Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Estimation, egbc.ca. Accessed 2026-06-10.
By Boersenpost · reviewed by Carsten Schmider, financial analyst — last updated 10 June 2026. Educational content, not investment advice.
