Guidelines for Assessment Reports: Nunavut Mining Regulations

Introduction

These guidelines are presented as a plain-language summary of the requirements for submitting assessment reports to the Mining Recorder under the Nunavut Mining Regulations (NMR), and to assist report authors in filing reports that are accurate and complete according to the NMR.

This document is to be referred to in conjunction with the amended NMR, which came into force November 1, 2020. It is not intended as a substitute for the regulations.

Mineral tenure licensees who hold rights to one or more mineral claims must perform work in order to keep those rights. This work must be documented in reports which meet the criteria in the NMR and in Schedule 2 of those regulations.

For further information about mineral tenure management in Nunavut, please visit the website of the Nunavut Mining Recorder's Office (MRO).

The term 'assessment report' is used throughout these guidelines to refer to the work reports required by the NMR, as that is the most familiar industry term. 'Assessment report' can be read interchangeably with the term 'report of work' used in the regulations.

The assessment report process

Assessment reports that document work completed on mineral claims located on Crown land are filed with the Mining Recorder for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) in Nunavut.

The intent of filing these reports is to assign the cost of the work completed on the mineral claim to fulfill the work requirements set out in the NMR. The reports must be submitted in hard copy or electronic format to the Mining Recorder, along with the relevant information as required in the Nunavut Map Selection system. Generally, a report may only include work done over 12 consecutive months, during the 4 years preceding the day on which the report is submitted to the Mining Recorder (NMR 42(2)).

There are 2 exceptions to this requirement: the initial work report on a claim or claims may include both the first and second year of work (NMR 41(a)), and work which was done on the area of a claim up to 2 years prior to the day on which that claim is recorded in NMS is considered as having been done in the first year after the recording of the claim (NMR 42(3)).

Determining "cost of work"

For expenditures to qualify as a "cost of work" they must fall into the categories listed in the definition of "work" in the NMR. Please see NMR section 1 (1) for definitions of "cost of work" and "work".

Under that definition, the following expenditures are not considered "work":

• costs for transporting workers or equipment to or from outside Canada
• taxes paid to any level of government
  • when submitting a Statement of Expenditures, subtract any applied taxes from the total amount for each expense and indicate on the statement that they have been taken out. For example, "GST has been removed from the total for each expenditure"
• costs related to recording a claim
• legal fees
• administrative costs, including expenses which relate to company operation, day-to-day office expenses, and any other costs not directly connected with work performed on the property
  • although some Canadian jurisdictions allow the addition of a "flat rate" percentage of the total expenditures which can be claimed under the category of administrative costs, Nunavut does not
• costs of environmental baseline studies, done in conjunction with geological field work, that exceed 10% of the cost of geological work. It is no longer possible for environmental baseline studies to be credited to their full amount beyond this limit
• "costs of doing business" such as software purchases, office equipment, or employee training
• expenditures to satisfy regulatory requirements and authorizations, such as fees associated with land use permits or water licenses

Please do not include receipts, invoices, or similar documentation with the report as those items will be requested if necessary. Any costs that the reviewing geologist considers excessive in relation to the work being reported on will be subject to further inquiry.

The intent of the NMR is for exploration work to be done on specific mineral claims and for the associated expenditures to be applied to those mineral claims. Costs incurred in support of this exploration work, such as for food, accommodations, and supplies, must be applied proportionately based on the amount of work done on the mineral claims; these costs cannot be allocated globally to all mineral claims on a property. Except in the case of grouping, under section 45 of the NMR, work must be done on a claim in order for costs of work to be applied to it.

In short, just because money is spent on an exploration project in Nunavut does not mean that the full amount spent will be approved as a "cost of work."

Expenditures that do not qualify as "work" under NMR 1 (1) will not be approved. Report authors with questions about whether an expense meets the definition of "work" can contact the Mineral Resources Division at CIRNAC's Nunavut Regional Office by email at: minerauxnu-mineralsnu@rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca.

Submitting an assessment report

When submitted to the MRO, both assessment reports and simplified assessment reports must contain all administrative documentation as required by the Mining Recorder. For submission of Statements of Expenditures, we recommend using this Statement of Expenditures template (MS Excel, 21 KB). The assessment report itself must include all information necessary to support the expenditures being claimed as a "cost of work," as well as any appendices required for the report, such as maps, raw geophysical data, assay certificates and contractors’ reports. Specific criteria for the reports are discussed in the sections below.

Under paragraph 42(4)(b) of the NMR, assessment reports must be signed off by a Qualified Person who is registered with the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists (NAPEG). The Nunavut MRO cannot accept reports of work which have been signed off by Qualified Persons registered in other jurisdictions. Please contact the MRO for more information. Details on registering with the association can be found on the NAPEG website.

This requirement does not apply to simplified assessment reports, which must be signed by the individual who performed or supervised the work. Simplified reports may be submitted under the requirements in NMR 42 (1), 42 (4), and Part 2 of Schedule 2, (17). These reports deal only with excavation, sampling or the examination of outcrops and surficial deposits, or any combination of these, for which the cost of work is less than $20,000. A more specific document intended for prospectors who might prepare simplified reports is available: The Simplified Report: a guide for Nunavut prospectors.

Writing an assessment report

Assessment reports and simplified assessment reports should include clear, detailed information on the following:

• what work was done on the mineral claims or prospecting permits
• how the work was done
• results obtained from the work
• what those results demonstrate about the mineral claims and/or prospecting permits
• what those results suggest for future work, if any, on those mineral claims or prospecting permits

Each assessment report must focus on:

• work that was done on a property or project over a period of not more than 12 consecutive months, and submitted within 4 years of having been completed
• the new geoscience knowledge and results that were obtained
• a discussion of those results
• conclusions and plans for future work

The first work report submitted for a project may cover up to 2 years of work. Discussion of previous work done on a property should be limited to a brief summary of 1 to 2 pages. When discussing a property’s historical work in general, it is better to provide a concise summary with references that interested readers may access for more complete information than to provide an extensive description of work that was completed in the past.

Hard copy report submission

Hard copies of assessment reports must be bound, and must be typewritten or printed on 8.5"x11" paper. They may not be handwritten. Larger pages such as maps, diagrams, sections or spreadsheets printed on 11"x17" paper are acceptable provided 1 full edge is securely bound into the report and the page is folded to fit.

Large-format maps or figures which have not been bound into the report must be folded and placed in pockets, envelopes, plastic sleeves, or other suitable holders which are bound into the report. Loose maps are not acceptable. All hard copy reports are scanned for digital archiving, and the available hardware is only able to scan maps up to 110 cm (44 inches) wide. As such, printed maps are requested to be no wider than 110 cm (44 inches).

All the text, figures and tables in a report must be legible. This includes items such as:

• sample numbers
• structural symbols on maps
• data contained in assay certificates

If the reviewing geologist cannot make out information in the report, or if the information will not scan clearly for digital archiving, revised versions of content that is legible will be requested.

11-point font is recommended for text and minimum 6-point font is recommended for the smallest labels in figures or maps. The minimum recommended print resolution setting is 300 dpi for text and 600 dpi for figures. Maps, sections and diagrams inserted as figures should be in colour where appropriate, and at sufficient resolution to ensure legibility.

If storage media such as CDs, DVDs, USB sticks, or external hard drives containing raw data are submitted with hard copy reports, they must be attached to the report in some fashion and not submitted loosely. Each piece of storage media must be labeled with the company name, project name, report date and the number of pieces being submitted, for example 'Disc 1 of 3'. NMR Sch. 2, 3(1)(j)

Electronic format report submission

Under the NMR assessment reports may be submitted in electronic format. However, the Nunavut MRO is unable to accept assessment reports via email because the secure transfer of confidential report files cannot be guaranteed.

Electronic copies of assessment reports must be submitted in a format that can be read using the Mining Recorder's computer systems. Please submit reports in press-quality PDF format on physical storage media, such as CDs, DVDs, USB sticks or external hard drives. Press quality PDFs can be created with Adobe PDFMaker or Acrobat Distiller. The converter has a "PDF Settings" dialogue box in which "Press Settings" can be selected. All submitted storage media must be labeled with the company name, project name, report date and with the number of pieces being submitted, for example 'Disc 1 of 3'. NMR Sch. 2, 3(1)(j)

Images and maps in the report should be in colour whenever appropriate. As with paper reports, all maps, figures and diagrams should be produced at a resolution of at least 300 dpi. 600 dpi is preferred to preserve figure and/or picture quality.

PDFs must not be password-protected. Please ensure that the "Security Method" in "Document Properties" is set to "No Security" to enable the insertion of any necessary revisions by the reviewing geologist. Georeferenced PDF documents are acceptable as long as they meet the rest of the requirements set out in Schedule 2 of the NMR.

Content criteria for assessment reports

Reference list

A reference list is required for all works cited in the report text, including any maps and figures. The Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (PDF) style is recommended for reference lists. When referencing assessment reports, the following format is suggested:

Author last name, initial(s). 2014. Assessment report on the Shiny Objects project. CIRNAC Assessment Report #00001. Report prepared by J. Geologist for Raven Resources Ltd.

Full bibliographies are not required for assessment reports. Please only include sources in the reference list that are directly referenced in the report. NMR Sch. 2, 4(e)

Appendices

Several appendices are required in assessment reports:

• a list or table of abbreviations and short forms used in the report or the appendices (e.g. in drill logs or sample descriptions). This list must include all abbreviations used to describe rocks, features, mineralogy, geology and landforms. NMR Sch. 2, 4(f)
• the report author's Statement of Qualifications. Only one statement of qualifications signed by a NAPEG-registered qualified person is required for a report. NMR 42(4)(b)
• the report's Statement of Expenditures. NMR 42(5)

The statement of expenditures should set out costs incurred in performing the work, in sufficient detail that they can be assessed by the reviewing geologist. It should include details on salaries paid to conduct work, including a list of the type(s) of workers conducting the work, their rate(s) of pay, and the time spent working on the project. Please only list how many of each type of worker are involved in the project; it is not necessary to provide employee names, home addresses or affiliations. A template is provided above in the section on Submitting an Assessment Report.

If work on an exploration program was undertaken by contractors, for example a geophysical survey, any contractors' reports must also be submitted, and must include copies of any deliverables provided by the contractor, for example large format maps, raw data and analytical certificates as applicable. NMR Sch. 2, 16(1)(d)

The Statement of Qualifications should indicate the qualified person's professional affiliation, their place of employment and its location, and a statement declaring that they are an author of the report (as a report may have multiple authors). It must be signed and stamped with the qualified person's official stamp or seal. NMR 42(4)(b)

A suggested template for the Statement of Qualifications is as follows:

I, (geologist's name), indicate the following:

1. I am a Professional Geoscientist affiliated with the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists (NAPEG).
2. I am employed by [company name], headquartered in [name of city or town].
3. I am an author of this report on the [project name] project.
4. I supervised the work being reported on in this report.
5. This report is complete and correct to the best of my knowledge.

The statement must then be signed by the Professional Geoscientist and indicate the municipality and province or territory where signing occurred. The statement must also be stamped with a NAPEG stamp.

Submitting revisions to your report

If the reviewing geologist determines that revisions to your report are necessary for compliance with the NMR, they will provide the requirements in their letter of review.

Requirements for specific types of report

Criteria for simplified reports

Simplified reports can be submitted when the cost of work for a report totals less than $20,000, and when only excavation, sampling or the examination of outcrops and surficial deposits, or any combination of them, were performed. NMR S.42 (1), (42 (4), Part 2 of Sch. 2, s 2-11, 17(a-c)

For more information on the preparation of simplified reports, please see The Simplified Report: a guide for Nunavut prospectors.