ASX crackdown on investor presentations: a timely reminder for companies presenting at upcoming mining conferences

Presenting at a mining conference: ASX guidance you need to know 5 min read

Every year, from July to October, we observe an increase in the frequency of corporate conferences in Australia. Entities listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) often attend and present at these conferences to showcase their products, growth strategies and focus areas for the new financial year.

The uptake in conferences is particularly evident in the mining sector, with several landmark events on the calendar allowing companies to pitch their strategy and prospects of success to rooms full of brokers, current investors and (potentially) new ones.

Although this time of the year is a great opportunity for listed entities to engage with their share register and prospective investors, it is timely that entities consider the ASX's new compliance update cracking down on the content contained in investor presentations, specifically in the mining sector (ASX Guidance).

In this Insight, we provide a short summary of the ASX Guidance to help those involved in preparing investor presentations for upcoming mining conferences.

Price-sensitive information, including exploration results and estimates, should not be hard to find

ASX has two requests in relation to price-sensitive information contained in investor presentations. First, entities are reminded that the header to an investor presentation should clearly identify that the presentation contains price-sensitive information. That said, the ideal scenario is that the price-sensitive information should also be disclosed in a standalone announcement made simultaneously with the investor presentation.

Second, to the extent the investor presentation contains price-sensitive information that relates to exploration results and estimates of mineral resources and reserves, the expectation is that this information (as reported under Chapter 5 of the Listing Rules) would always be first disclosed in a stand-alone announcement.

Ensuring visibility of cautionary statements

Proximate cautionary statements should be on the same page and in the same paragraph or immediately preceding or following paragraph as the information to which they relate, and should be given equal prominence, including the same font type, size and colour as the heading.

If the relevant information is included in a heading, the cautionary statement must also be in a heading and should be highlighted or emphasised in exactly the same way. You should not 'fine print' the proximate cautionary statement.

Including competent person statements: best practices

If an investor presentation includes new or materially changed exploration results, mineral resources or ore reserves, the presentation must contain a competent person statement in accordance with Listing Rule 5.22. As a reminder, a competent person statement should include the name of the competent person, whether they are an employee of the mining entity or a related party, and the name of the professional organisation of which the competent person is a member.

To the extent that the presentation only contains previously disclosed information that has not materially changed since it was initially disclosed, a streamlined competent person statement in accordance with Listing Rule 5.23 may be used. However, beware of using a streamlined competent person statement for disclosing an exploration target, as clause 17 of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code) requires the inclusion of a competent person statement each time an entity reports an exploration target.

Reporting on mineral resources and ore reserves: adhering to the JORC Code

Presentations containing public reports of mineral resources must comply with clause 26 of the JORC Code, including by:

• specifying one or more of the categories of 'inferred', 'indicated' and 'measured';
• not reporting categories in a combined form unless details for the individual categories are also provided; and
• not reporting in terms of contained metal or mineral content unless corresponding tonnages and grades are also presented.

The ASX Guidance contains a reminder to listed entities that they should not report 'global resources' or other similar terms unless the individual categories of resources are also disclosed.

Furthermore, presentations containing information regarding ore reserves must comply with clauses 34 and 36 of the JORC Code. Clause 34 of the JORC Code includes similar obligations to clause 26 of the JORC Code (as described above), and clause 36 provides that figures for both mineral resources and ore reserves should not be aggregated into a combined figure.

Peer comparison guidelines: avoiding common pitfalls

One of the key takeaways of the ASX Guidance is that mining entities must take more care when using peer comparisons. In reminding the market of ASX's previously disclosed guidance, ASX has specifically emphasised that listed entities should not:

• compare resources or reserves without disclosing the different categories of resources or reserves;
• compare exploration targets to resources or reserves; or
• fail to disclose the differences in the stage of development of peer projects.

When preparing investor presentations containing a peer comparison, entities should include the material assumptions and the source of the information that was used to develop the comparison table. For example, if the table is taken from another listed peer, the entity should reference the date and title of the announcement.

Notwithstanding the above guidance, ASX has reiterated that it can require entities to withdraw or retract information if it believes the peer comparison is potentially misleading. In fact, during the course of July 2024 alone, we have identified five instances where entities have been required to retract or modify peer comparison tables.¹

Disclosing visual estimates: when is it appropriate?

It is generally inappropriate for entities to publish estimates of mineralisation based only on visual observations. If an entity forms the view that it must disclose an estimate based on visual observations only, the announcement must meet all the Listing Rule and JORC Code requirements.

TikTok, Instagram and X: not a replacement for the market announcements platform

The ASX Guidance makes it clear that social media is not the place to disclose market sensitive information to investors. Prior to posting any market sensitive information on social media platforms, listed entities must disclose it through the market announcements platform. In any event, all social media posts must comply with the requirements applying to public reports under Chapter 5 of the Listing Rules and the JORC Code.

To the extent necessary, ASX will take action requiring entities to remove inappropriate visual results, in-ground values and peer comparisons on social media platforms.

Final recommendations: preparing compliant presentations

The ASX Guidance sends a clear message to listed mining entities: consider your internal practices around the preparation of investor presentations. By way of summary, entities should consider:

• Are we disclosing price-sensitive information in the presentation? If so, should it be disclosed in a standalone announcement, and does the header to the presentation clearly state that it includes price-sensitive information?
• Are there cautionary statements in our presentation? If so, are they in the right position? Are they emphasised and highlighted in exactly the same way as the related information?
• Are we disclosing new information about mineral resources or ore reserves? If so, does the presentation contain a competent person statement?
• Are we using a peer comparison guideline? If so, does it adequately and accurately disclose and compare the categories of resources or reserves, and the stage of each respective project? Does the slide include the source of where the information came from?
• Are we using visual estimates? If so, should we? If we have to use an estimate made exclusively on visual observation, does that estimate meet all the Listing Rule and JORC Code requirements?
• Are we posting market sensitive information on social media? If so, has it been disclosed through the market announcement platforms first? If it has, does the social media post comply with the requirements applying to public reports under Chapter 5 of the Listing Rules and the JORC Code?

During the remainder of this 'conference season', we strongly recommend that listed mining entities tread carefully to ensure they are compliant with the ASX Guidance.