This year March 14 The General Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources has issued a notice (Natural Resources Office Letter [2022] No. 428) soliciting comments on the “Interim Provisions on the Professional Qualification System for Mining Rights Appraisers (Draft for Comments)” and the “Implementation Measures for the Professional Qualification Examination for Mining Rights Appraisers (Draft for Comments).” In the first installment of a series of Q&A, the notice focuses on clarifying the categories covered by the new “Mining Rights Appraisal” professional series, the professional qualification system, and the competency-based personnel system. It also highlights the primary reasons for promoting the competency-based personnel system and provides further details. International CRIRSCO Organization. Series Q&A (Part 2) will focus on answering questions related to the competency-based system and its associated changes and developments.

7. Implementation of mineral resource exploration and physical quantity estimation Professional Qualification System Afterwards, does the reserve evaluation still exist? Do the professional and technical personnel involved in the reserve evaluation need to obtain professional qualifications?

The “Opinions on Promoting Reform of Mineral Resource Management—Several Issues (Trial)” issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources on December 31, 2019 (Document No. 7 [2019] of the Ministry of Natural Resources Regulations, hereinafter referred to as “Document No. 7”) and the “Notice on Several Issues Concerning the Filing and Registration of Mineral Resource Reserves” issued on May 19, 2020 (Document No. 26 [2020] of the Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources) clearly stipulate that mineral resource reserve reports must be prepared and applications for review and filing submitted in only five specific circumstances: ① conversion of exploration rights into mining rights; ② changes in the type and scope of minerals under mining rights; ③ discovery of geological reserves of oil and gas minerals during exploration and mining activities; ④ significant changes in resource quantities of other minerals during mining activities (where the magnitude of change exceeds 30% or reaches a medium-scale or larger size); and ⑤ cases where construction projects overlie important mineral deposits. At the same time, the documents emphasize: “Actively foster a market service system for the review of mineral resource reserves to meet the production, operation, and market needs of enterprises.” Document No. 7... The reserve evaluation has established a clear delineation, defining the boundary between administrative actions and market activities—that is, as mentioned above. Five types of situations fall under administrative actions and are entrusted to the competent administrative authorities; other situations are considered market behaviors and are independently decided by market entities.

Currently, according to the service guide on the “Government Services Portal” of the Ministry of Natural Resources’ website, the Mineral Resource Reserves Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources only accepts reserve evaluation applications for the five scenarios mentioned above. Reserve evaluations falling under market activities are handled by the market service system. The core framework of the market service system includes: Industry organizations, a system of professional practice rules, and competent professionals. Among these, the industry organization with self-regulatory functions has been entrusted by the Ministry of Natural Resources to the China Association of Mineral Rights Appraisers.

In summary, it belongs to. For administrative actions, reserve evaluations still exist; for actions that are market-driven, the original concept of “reserve evaluation” has been integrated into... Mineral Resource Exploration and Physical Quantity Estimation “Among them, regarding whether the professional and technical personnel involved in reserve evaluations corresponding to administrative actions need to obtain professional qualifications, based on the wording of Article 2 of the ‘Provisional Regulations on the Professional Qualification System for Mineral Rights Appraisers (Draft for Soliciting Comments),’ it should be understood that they are subject to the same requirements as those applicable to ‘original mineral rights appraisals’ (now categorized as ‘…’).” Evaluation of Mining Rights Value and Related Interests ”) Shall be consistent with the entrustment from the administrative authority, require obtaining professional qualifications, and become effective only after being signed by a registered practicing appraiser in the report.

8. What is the relationship among industry organizations, the system of professional practice rules, and competent professionals? What foundational work has the China Association of Mineral Rights Appraisers already undertaken?

As mentioned in Article 6 of Series Q&A (1), the CRIRSCO organization has three basic requirements for applicant countries or regions: an industry organization, a system of professional practice rules, and qualified professionals. With regard to the relationship among these three elements, the CRIRSCO organization stipulates the following:

(1) Develop and be responsible for maintaining a reporting standard that is compatible with CRIRSCO’s reporting template, a standard that is recognized as the standard for public reporting or widely supported by professional bodies responsible for public reporting standards in its country or region.

(2) Before making any amendments to the reporting standards for its country or region, agree to engage in international consultations with NROs (Note: non-governmental organizations) that are represented in CRIRSCO. These include credible, self-regulating professional bodies that provide disciplinary systems and ethical guidelines and govern the conduct of qualified personnel (Note: i.e., competent individuals) in accordance with these systems and guidelines, or as defined in the template.

Currently, the Chinese government and industry are precisely following this logical relationship. Actively foster the related market service system. (1) Industry organization—the China Association of Mining Rights Appraisers. This association is an industry organization recognized by the Chinese government and the CRIRSCO organization. Non-governmental organization ); (2) The practice rules system. Based on the original practice rules system for mineral rights appraisers, the China Association of Mineral Rights Appraisers has established a new system in accordance with the requirements of the CRIRSCO organization and taking into account China’s national conditions. “ Mineral Resource Exploration and Physical Quantity Estimation ” of the Practice rules system, including Publicly available standard templates, professional disciplinary regulations, and ethical guidelines, etc. (3) Competent Individuals. A professional qualification system and a competent individual system have been established based on China’s distinctive characteristics. Specifically, these include: a talent selection system that combines examination, evaluation, registration, and promotion—a “assessment-and-evaluation integrated” approach; a self-regulatory management system comprising self-discipline, supervision, penalties, and exit mechanisms; and membership management systems such as membership-based structures and recommender systems. (4) Technical specification system, including national standards, industry standards, and group standards, etc. For detailed information on the aforementioned foundational work, please visit the website of the China Association of Mining Rights Appraisers (www.camra2006.org.cn).

   9. Implement Professional Qualification System and After the competency-based system, What management approach will be adopted for professional and technical personnel engaged in geological exploration and geological report preparation?

(1) “Entry via examination, promotion through industry assessment, and maintenance through training.” “Entry via examination” means that practitioners must first pass the nationwide unified examination to obtain professional qualifications and register for practice. “Promotion through industry assessment” refers to obtaining membership eligibility and advancing in membership status via industry evaluation—this applies both to individual practitioners and to practicing organizations. Under current regulations, only individuals who have reached the level of senior member and organizations that have passed the professional competency assessment are eligible to prepare reserve reports. “Maintenance through training” means that practitioners must participate in annual continuing education and training or in industry activities designated as enhancing their professional competence—in other words, they must continuously maintain their professional capabilities in order to remain actively practicing.

(2) “Dual Membership, Dual Qualifications.” Individuals who have obtained professional qualifications are required to join. Only after becoming an individual member of the China Association of Mining Rights Appraisers and registering the practicing entity as a group member of the association can one officially begin practicing. Currently, those engaged in... Practicing appraisers engaged in mineral resource exploration and physical quantity estimation are not yet required to be natural persons (however, those engaged in the valuation of mining rights and related interests must be natural persons to register and practice).

10. Currently Engage in How many individual and organizational members are there in mineral resource exploration and physical quantity estimation?

According to Ministry of Natural Resources’ “2019 Annual Report on the National Geological Exploration Industry” ， As of the end of 2019, the national geological exploration industry, The number of people employed in the industry is 380,000, including 160,400 geological exploration personnel. There are a total of 2,397 geological exploration units, including 946 public institutions and 1,451 enterprises. As of April 15, 2022, the China Association of Mineral Rights Appraisers has already... Engage in There are 1,294 individual members engaged in mineral resource exploration and physical quantity estimation, and 150 organizational members.

Currently, geological survey units with established public-sector positions are undergoing restructuring, and it is expected that as... Ministry of Natural Resources After the official release of the "Provisional Regulations on the Professional Qualification System for Mining Rights Appraisers," significant changes will occur within the industry.

(Author: Executive Director of the China Association of Mineral Rights Appraisers, Deputy Chairperson of the Specialized Committee on Mineral Resource Reserves, Deputy Chairperson of the Specialized Committee on Mineral Rights Appraisal, Senior Member in Mineral Resource Reserves, and Senior Industry Expert )