The UNFC workshop under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade took place at the CGS on April 18 – 20, 2023.
The "United Nations Framework Classification of Resources" (UNFC) allows for the classification of primary and secondary mineral resources and reserves in terms of environmental and socio-economic viability and technical feasibility of projects in conjunction with the level of geological knowledge. The European Union intends to use the UNFC to harmonise the reporting of mineral resources and reserves across countries, thus providing a single data set suitable for data aggregation. This dataset will facilitate pan-European resource management and the achievement of the objectives of the Critical Raw Materials Act, which is currently in the approval process. The implementation of the UNFC does not replace national legislation or CRIRSCO systems (JORC, PERC, etc.) but is a superstructure for international and national resource management. In the future it is envisaged to be introduced for the assessment of renewable resources and water. The UNFC is also an important chapter in the development of the European Geological Survey GSEU.
The workshop was led by Janne Hokka and Tuomas Leskelä from the Finnish Geological Survey GTK. Janne Hokka is the main reviewer of the document "UNFC Guidance Europe" and knows the classification very intimately. The workshop was of an excellent standard as appreciated by all participants. During the workshop participants were introduced to both the UNFC and CRIRSCO classifications and a number of case studies from Finland and the Czech Republic were discussed.
The participants, who were both employees of the CGS as well as exploration and mining companies and Ministries, will further collaborate on the CGS task "Methodology for the implementation of the UNFC system in the conditions of the Czech legislative framework".
