(Justmeans.com / CSR News) - The Committee for Mineral Reserves and International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO)- a task force of ICMM- has signed an agreement with FGU “State Commission on Mineral Reserves” (GKZ). The decision to align the International and Russian reporting systems was reached at a meeting in Moscow on 21-22 October 2008.

Niall Weatherstone, chairman of CRIRSCO, said “this agreement recognizes the importance of Russia as both a producer of minerals and an international partner in many mining ventures.

“Mutual recognition of minerals reporting systems and greater integration with the well established CRIRSCO reporting methodologies will assist industry practitioners, regulators, and the financial community in the future.”

Key points of this agreement include the following:

• a basis for mutual recognition of Competent Persons,
• a set of guidelines for conversion of reporting categories for resources and for reserves, which will be developed fully in a handbook to be issued jointly by GKZ and CRIRSCO before the end of 2009,
• a commitment to coordination of future efforts in standardisation of reporting,
• an immediate invitation to the Russian Association of Mineral Resource Experts (OERN) to nominate a representative as a member of PERC (the Pan-European Reserves & Resources Reporting Committee), whose new CRIRSCO-compliant minerals reporting code is to be published within the next few weeks.