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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteEvaluate a junior miner’s exploration potential by checking the quality and age of its technical evidence, the geology behind its claims, the project’s legal and economic constraints, and whether the company can fund its next steps. Treat drill results and resource estimates as evidence to assess—not proof of a mine or of investment value.
Start with the company’s rights to the project
Before assessing the geology, establish what the issuer actually controls. Identify the exact property and jurisdiction, then check the company’s ownership or option interest, royalty or stream burdens, earn-in obligations, and any expiry dates. These details can determine how much of a discovery the company could retain and what it must do to keep its interest.
Use current issuer filings and relevant jurisdictional records for these company-specific facts. Do not attribute a nearby deposit or drill result to the company: under Canada’s NI 43-101 instrument, an adjacent property is one in which the issuer has no interest. Nearby geology can offer context, but it is not evidence of a resource on the company’s land.
Find the technical report—and check how current it is
Locate the project’s filed mining technical report and compare it with later news releases and filings. A report is a detailed technical disclosure, not a guarantee of project quality. Record which property and issuer interest it covers, the reporting framework, its effective date, its authors and relevant expertise, and the work it recommends.
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Reporting requirements differ by jurisdiction. The SEC’s mining disclosure guide describes circumstances in which U.S. filings require technical report summaries and the qualified person’s responsibility for supporting information. The SEC’s 2018 rule announcement said its requirement was intended to help investors assess project risk at each stage. Neither a filing nor a qualified person’s involvement removes the need to examine the disclosed assumptions and limitations.
Judge the geological case, not just the headline drill hole
Exploration information can include geological, geophysical and geochemical work, sampling, drilling, analytical results, mineralogy, and metallurgy. Read how the company collected and analyzed samples, what laboratory work was done, what quality-control procedures were reported, and how the data were checked and used in the interpretation.
Rank #2
NI 43-101 defines data verification as confirming that data were generated using proper procedures, accurately transcribed, and suitable for use. Look for the report’s description of verification and any limitations. A result is harder to evaluate when the reader cannot tell how samples were collected, analyzed, or checked.
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- Geological model: Does the proposed deposit model fit the host rocks, structure, alteration, and mineralization described?
- Continuity: Do multiple holes support a coherent zone, or is the claim based on isolated intersections? Consider spacing, orientation, depth, and the geometry between holes.
- Representativeness: Are highlighted intervals consistent with the wider program, and are the sampling and assay methods adequately described?
- Width and context: Do not compare grades without considering true width, drill angle, mineralized geometry, host geology, and any cut-off assumptions used in reporting.
- Next work: Does the recommended exploration program test the stated geological interpretation, and are its objectives clear?
A high-grade intercept can be interesting, but by itself it does not establish continuity, a resource, or mineability. An exploration target is also not a mineral resource.
Rank #3
Keep exploration results, resources, and reserves separate
These terms describe different kinds of evidence and should not be treated as interchangeable quantities of mineable material.
- Exploration results report findings such as drilling, sampling, or geophysical work. They do not, on their own, establish a mineral resource.
- Inferred resources have the least geological confidence among the inferred, indicated, and measured resource categories. The SEC guide describes those categories in increasing order of confidence based on geological evidence. CRIRSCO-based definitions reproduced in a filed technical report describe an inferred resource as based on limited evidence and sampling; it must not be converted directly into a reserve.
- Indicated and measured resources represent higher levels of geological confidence than inferred resources, but neither label alone establishes that the material can be mined economically or legally.
- Reserves are the economically mineable part of a measured or indicated resource after applying relevant modifying factors and study work. A resource estimate is not a reserve determination.
Do not assume that all or any part of a resource will be upgraded, become economically mineable, or receive the legal approvals needed for development. Resource classifications express geological confidence; they are not promises about future outcomes.
Test the economic assumptions behind project values
When a company presents an economic study or a project value, check the study type and date before interpreting the number. Examine the commodity price, cut-off grade, mining and processing assumptions, recovery, capital and operating costs, taxes and royalties, and how the result changes under less favorable assumptions.
A cut-off grade is an assumption-driven threshold used to distinguish material considered for inclusion from material below that threshold. The SEC guide says an initial assessment includes technical and economic factors and uses assumed unit costs and commodity prices to estimate a cut-off grade. It also calls for disclosure and explanation of the selected price and material assumptions. Different assumptions can produce different apparent project economics, so compare like with like rather than treating a headline value as self-explanatory.
Study stage matters because the work supporting an economic conclusion differs from the geological evidence supporting a resource. A reserve requires study support for economic viability and application of modifying factors; a resource estimate alone does not establish that viability.
Check the constraints that can block development
Geological promise can be limited by factors outside the drill core. CRIRSCO-based definitions and SEC guidance identify modifying factors relevant to evaluating whether a resource can advance toward a reserve. Review what is known—and what remains unresolved—about:
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- Mining and processing: Potential mining method, metallurgy, processing route, and recovery assumptions.
- Infrastructure and operations: Access, water, power, and other project needs.
- Land, law, and government: Title, permitting, applicable legal requirements, and government factors.
- Environmental and social matters: Baseline work, potential impacts, and community relationships.
- Economics and markets: Cost, price, and market assumptions used in studies.
Do not treat the absence of detail in a headline announcement as proof that a constraint is either solved or insurmountable. Look for project-specific disclosure and identify which questions remain open.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Ask whether the company can reach its next milestone
Exploration potential has limited practical value if the issuer cannot retain its project rights or finance the work needed to test them. Compare current cash and committed funding with the proposed exploration budget, obligations under project agreements, stated milestones, and likely financing timing. Review potential dilution as part of the company’s ability to fund its plan.
There is no universal funding-runway threshold established by the cited regulatory and technical sources. The relevant comparison is company-specific: what work is planned, what it is expected to cost, when funding may be needed, and whether the company has obligations or access constraints that could affect execution. Use current filings for treasury and financing details; do not infer funding adequacy from a generic rule of thumb.
Compare projects on consistent axes
When comparing two or more junior miners, use the same questions for each project. A stronger story in one category does not automatically compensate for weaker evidence or a major constraint in another.
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| Axis | What to compare | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence quality | Sampling and assay disclosure, data verification, drill density, and geological continuity | Shows how much confidence the interpretation deserves. |
| Stage and confidence | Exploration results, resource category, and study stage | These indicate different levels of geological confidence and economic support. |
| Economic assumptions | Commodity price, cut-off grade, recovery, costs, and sensitivity | Assumptions can change a project’s apparent economics. |
| Project constraints | Mining, processing, infrastructure, legal, environmental, social, and government factors | These factors affect whether a resource can advance toward a reserve and development. |
| Company capacity | Project interest, contractual obligations, cash, planned work, and financing | The issuer needs secure rights and resources to carry out the next work program. |
Build a first-pass due-diligence checklist
- Identify the asset: Confirm the property, jurisdiction, company interest, encumbrances, obligations, and expiry dates.
- Read the technical disclosure: Find the filed report, note its effective date and authors, then reconcile its findings with subsequent company disclosures.
- Audit the evidence: Review sampling, assays, quality controls, verification, drill geometry, and the case for continuity.
- Classify the claim: Determine whether the company is discussing exploration results, an exploration target, a resource category, or a reserve.
- Interrogate the economics: Record the study date and assumptions, including price, cut-off grade, recovery, costs, and sensitivity.
- Assess constraints and funding: Identify open permitting, infrastructure, environmental, social, and technical issues; compare the next work program with current funding and obligations.
- Separate fact from inference: Mark what is established in technical disclosure, what is the issuer’s interpretation, and what still needs evidence.
The cited sources provide a framework for assessing technical disclosure, not a ranking of junior mining companies or a prediction of exploration success. The SEC guide’s qualified-person definition includes a minimum of five years of relevant experience; that is a regulatory qualification threshold, not evidence that a project will succeed.
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