LibGuides: Mining Management: Public Company Filings

About Financial Statements & Filings

Publicly-traded companies are regulated by securities commissions such as the U.S.'s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). While the U.S. has one securities commission that oversees all public companies, Canadian securities are regulated by provincial and territorial bodies such as the Ontario Securities Commission.

Public companies are required by law to submit filings such as annual reports and financial statements. It is easy to find a lot of financial information on public companies because of their filings in free, online databases such as SEDAR and EDGAR.

Important Mining Company Filings in Canada

Canadian public mining companies are required to submit special filings to SEDAR such as the NI 43-101. Also, there are important sections to review in standard SEDAR filings that can help you with your research.

Important SEDAR filings:

National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101): Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects:

NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and administered by the provincial securities commissions that governs how issuers disclose scientific and technical information about their mineral projects to the public. It covers oral statements as well as written documents and websites. It requires that all disclosure be based on advice by a "qualified person" (such as an engineer or geoscientist) and in some circumstances that the person be independent of the issuer and the property.

MD&A (Management Discussion and Analysis):

This section is included in the annual reports that public Canadian companies submit to SEDAR. The MD&A section of the annual report is very useful when analyzing company strategy.

Annual Information Form (AIF):

This is a legally required disclosure document that public Canadian companies submit to SEDAR. This document provides material information about a company and its business at a particular point in time based on its historical and possible future development.

Important Mining Company Filings in U.S.

The United States' Industry Guide 7: Description of Property by Issuers Engaged or to be Engaged in Significant Mining Operations outlines the SEC's mining disclosure policy:

While the Industry Guide 7 contains the SEC's mining disclosure policy, as well as the definitions used to create this guide, it is not a type of form that will appear as a filing.

Instead, this information will be included in a mining company's Form S-1 (document filed that indicates a U.S. company will be going public).

After a mining company has gone public, this information will appear in a public mining company's 10-K (annual report), 10-Q (quarterly report), or 8-K (report used to alert investors of a material event such as a bankruptcy).

Canadian & U.S. Government Filings Sites

Search tips for finding annual reports in: SEDAR | EDGAR

SEDAR
Provides access to electronic filings submitted by public companies and mutual funds to the Canadian Securities Administrators from 1997 to the present.
EDGAR
Provides access to submissions from public companies required by law to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Documents from 1994 to present are available for most companies. Full text searching available for the last 4 years. EDGAR has specific names for filings (ex: Form 10-K is an annual report; Form S-1 is initial registration for new security)

Finding Filings in Business Databases

S&P Metals and Mining (Capital IQ Pro)
First time users must create unique login using @yorku.ca or @schulich.yorku.ca email. Comprehensive resource, as it includes all SEDAR filings from Canadian public companies in the metals and mining industries from 2005 to the present. Also, includes all SEC filings from U.S. public companies in the metals and mining industries from 2002 to the present. To access most filings, select "Advanced Search" at the top of the browser window. Choose the "Documents, Transcripts & Events" tab, and then select "Documents & Filings."

To locate specific mining filings, such as NI 43-101: Search for a company using the main search bar > Select company from results list > Expand menu under "News, Events and Filings" in the left-hand side search bar > Select "Filings & Reports" > Under "Document Type" select "Metals & Mining Filing" to access exploration and tech reports.

While SEDAR and EDGAR provide free acces to Canadian and U.S. public company filings, many business databases also offer this information, but in an enhanced format. This allows you to access many filings through an easier search process and many databases provide additional supplementary information that will complement your research.

Mergent Online
If you want to retrieve an annual report for a Canadian or U.S. mining company, select the "Reports" tab > search by ticker symbol or company. Coverage goes back to the late 1990s for most companies.

For sophisticated searching and retrieval of other filings, click on the "Government Filings" tab > select either the "SEC Filings (US Filings)" link or the "SEDAR (Canadian Filings)" link. The "SEC Filings" section supports keyword searching of full-text documents, while the "SEDAR" section does not.

To access SEDAR filings such as NI 43-101, select the "SEDAR" link > input the mining company's name > select "Technical Report(s) NI 43-101" from the "Filings Type" drop-down menu > Click "Search".
Lexis Nexis Academic
Select the "Search By Content Type" option offered just above the red search box > select "SEC Filings" under the main heading "Companies" from the list of menu options provided > enter the company's name to search for filings made in EDGAR.