Analysis of Mining Financials

This course will enable you to develop an awareness of the relevant financial information you can discover about a mining corporation from its audited financial statements. You will also have an appreciation for how accountants are challenged with exercising professional judgment on qualitative issues involving alternative accounting standards, balanced with a need for numerical precision. You will recognize that professional judgments included in financial assessments are similar to those made in demonstrating probable and proven mineral reserves.

“Analysis of Mining Financials” uses the business environment in the mining industry as a relevant context for understanding the financial statements of mining corporations. It isolates select accounting aspects as being fundamental to your becoming an informed reader of audited financial statements . . . including balance sheets, income statements, cash flows statements, statements of shareholders’ equity and the audited notes. Examples of financial statements of both large and small mining companies are used and analyzed to illustrate these fundamentals.

The course draws on credible sources to highlight relevant characteristics of accounting for mining. The objective of this material is to identify some prominent aspects of financing the corporate mining strategy, delve into the distinct areas where there are issues in accounting for the mining industry, and summarize the risks that are inherent in understanding the financial statements of those involved in mining. The course provides the tools to establish a profile of a company’s overall financial status and identifies the attributes that contribute to financial health and flexibility.

Participants are advised to bring a laptop computer (with MS Excel).