The Reconciliation Problem – Part 1 of the “Mine it right, Report it right” blog series.

Guest article by Rayleen Hargreaves – Product Owner, Reconcilor | Vela Industries Group

🟦 Meet the author:
This article kicks off a new series on the challenges and opportunities of mine reconciliation, written by Rayleen Hargreaves — Product Owner of Reconcilor at Datamine. With over 25 years of industry experience and a passion for transforming reconciliation processes, Rayleen brings a perspective shaped by both software innovation and hands-on mining knowledge. Through this practical, insight-driven series, she explores how mining teams can move from disconnected workflows and spreadsheet-based workarounds to traceable data, confident reporting, and audit-ready systems. We’re proud to feature her writing on the Snowden Optiro platform as part of the shared commitment across the Vela Industries Group to technical excellence in mining.

If you’ve ever asked, “Why doesn’t this number match?”, you already know the problem.

Across mining operations around the world, we rely on a mountain of data to make decisions. But what happens when that data doesn’t line up?

What happens when:

• What was planned doesn’t match what was mined
• What was mined doesn’t match what was reported
• By the time the variance is discovered, it’s too late to act

The answer: confidence breaks down.

Let’s Call It What It Is

Most operations are still managing reconciliation with spreadsheets, tribal knowledge, and manual adjustments. And it’s not just inefficient — it’s risky.

Inconsistent reconciliation processes lead to:

• Mistrust between geology, planning, and processing teams
• Delays in end-of-month reporting
• Disconnected systems with no audit trail
• Arguments over which version of the truth is “right”

It becomes a cycle of patching and reworking, often after the reporting deadline has passed — and long after decisions have already been made.

And it’s not just happening at smaller sites. I’ve seen these problems firsthand at large-scale, well-resourced operations.

The problem isn’t a lack of data.
The problem is a lack of trust in the data.

Reconciliation Shouldn’t Be a Mystery

We treat reconciliation like a back-office process, something that gets stitched together just in time for the report to go out. But if you’re not confident in your numbers, how can you stand behind them?

How can:

• Your planning team forecast with confidence?
• Your geologists make grade decisions?
• Your processing team operate without second-guessing the inputs?

More importantly, how can leadership — or regulators, or investors — make decisions based on numbers no one fully trusts?

The Risk Isn’t Just Technical — It’s Cultural

When reconciliation is spreadsheet-bound and reactive:

• People stop asking questions because they know the answers are buried in a workbook
• Departments work in silos because no one agrees on the inputs
• Decision-making stalls, or worse, relies on assumptions

And let’s be honest — this has become normalised in many places. Month-end comes with a shrug, not a clear audit trail.

But here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to be this way.

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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

What This Series Will Cover
This is Part 1 of a 4-part series where I’ll walk through how we can shift from patchwork to confidence in our reconciliation approach. Over the next few weeks, I’ll cover:
Part 2: The Triangle of Trust
A framework for understanding why reconciliation matters more than ever — to regulators, investors, and operations.
Part 3: The Confidence Test
Three simple questions to assess your reconciliation health (and a case study to show what good looks like).
Part 4: From Patchwork to Proactive
How Reconcilor helps operations build traceable, auditable, and aligned reconciliation workflows.

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One Last Thought
If your team is struggling to reconcile what was planned, mined, and reported — you’re not alone. But the longer we rely on workarounds, the more we lose: not just time, but trust.
Reconciliation shouldn’t be a chore — it’s the foundation of your data integrity, team trust, and reporting credibility.

See you in Part 2 — where we’ll explore what’s really at stake when reconciliation goes wrong (and why the industry is finally waking up to it).

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Have thoughts already? Reach out: Rayleen.Hargreaves@dataminesoftware.com
Learn more: www.dataminesoftware.com

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We help mine developers to advance their projects, mining companies to improve their operations and their professionals, and investors to de-risk their investments by the provision of quality advice, training and software in the field of Mineral Resources and Mineral/Ore Reserves.

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