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The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is exploring whether to develop requirements or guidance to improve an entity’s disclosures about its exploration and evaluation expenditure and activities. The IASB is also exploring whether to remove the temporary status of IFRS 6 Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources.

The IASB is researching what information users of financial statements need about exploration and evaluation expenditure and activities, why they do not currently get that information, and the costs and benefits of requiring an entity to provide that information.

Following the IASB’s decisions in September 2023, the IASB has stopped the project and will publish a project summary.

IASB® Update September 2023

The IASB met on 20 September 2023 to discuss the project's direction.

Analysis of disclosure suggestions (Agenda Paper 19A)

The IASB tentatively decided:

  1. not to develop requirements or guidance to disclose information to help users of financial statements:
    1. understand how an entity accounts for exploration and evaluation expenditure;
    2. compare entities with varying accounting policies for exploration and evaluation expenditure; and
    3. understand the risks and uncertainties of an entity’s exploration and evaluation activities; and
  2. not to pursue other suggestions to improve disclosure requirements related to exploration and evaluation expenditure and activities.

Twelve of 13 IASB members present agreed with these decisions. One member was absent.

Removing the temporary status of IFRS 6 Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources (Agenda Paper 19B)

The IASB tentatively decided:

  1. to confirm that the work done in publishing the Discussion Paper Extractive Activities in April 2010 and in this Extractive Activities research project completes the comprehensive review of the accounting for extractive activities envisaged by the IASB when issuing IFRS 6 Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources;
  2. to remove, as part of its next volume of Annual Improvements to IFRS Accounting Standards, the temporary nature of the exemption in IFRS 6 from the application of paragraphs 11–12 of IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors; and
  3. to retain paragraphs 13–14 of IFRS 6, which set out the circumstances when an entity may change its accounting policies for exploration and evaluation expenditure.

All 13 IASB members present agreed with these decisions. One member was absent.

The IASB discussed the staff’s proposal to publish a project summary for the project.

The IASB was not asked to make any decisions.

Project direction

As a consequence of the tentative decisions made in the project, the IASB decided:

  1. to stop the project; and
  2. to add to the maintenance project pipeline a project to remove, as part of its next volume of Annual Improvements to IFRS Accounting Standards, the temporary nature of the exemption in IFRS 6 from the application of paragraphs 11–12 of IAS 8.

All 13 IASB members present agreed with this decision. One member was absent.

Next milestone

Project Summary