The Triangle of Trust – why reconciliation matters more than ever. Part 2 of “Mine it Right, Report it Right” blog series.

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

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In Part 1, we looked at the all-too-common reconciliation gap: planned ≠ mined ≠ reported. But the real cost of poor reconciliation goes deeper than just mismatched numbers – it erodes trust.

I call this the Triangle of Trust – a simple but powerful way to understand what’s at risk when your reconciliation process isn’t built to stand up to scrutiny.

Think of it like this: at each corner of the triangle sits geological models, operations, and reporting and at the centre of it all is reconciliation.

Why is this important?

1. Regulators

The draft JORC Code (Clause 10.1) puts it plainly: reconciliation must be part of your quality control process. Where appropriate, it should be reported and be traceable.

If your numbers are stitched together in spreadsheets with no audit trail, it’s unlikely you’re meeting that requirement.

2. Investors

Investors want transparency. If you’ve ever had to walk back numbers, caveat your results, or explain “variance adjustments,” you already know how fragile investor confidence can be. Reconciliation gives you the credibility to stand behind the story your numbers tell.

3. Operations

Planning, geology, and processing rely on aligned data to make daily decisions. When that trust breaks down, collaboration suffers and operational decisions are made with hesitation or assumptions. That’s costly.

The Impact of Broken Trust

When even one corner of this triangle is weak, the consequences ripple outward:

• Reports get delayed or retracted
• Teams second-guess each other’s work
• Audits become firefights
• Decision-making slows down – or worse, goes wrong

Lose confidence in your numbers, and you lose the ability to make good decisions.

You Can Build It Back

The good news? Trust can be rebuilt, not with more spreadsheets, but with clear, traceable, auditable workflows.

In the next post, I’ll show you how to evaluate whether your current reconciliation process holds up… with three simple questions that reveal whether your numbers are built on trust – or guesswork.

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Want to talk through how your team stacks up? Email me at Rayleen.Hargreaves@dataminesoftware.com

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

What This Series Covers
Part 1 was a walk through how we can shift from patchwork to confidence in our reconciliation approach.
Link to blog article: https://snowdenoptiro.com/mine-it-right-report-it-right-blog-series/
Part 2: The Triangle of Trust – the current blog article:
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 – You’re not alone!
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.

Rayleen.Hargreaves@dataminesoftware.com contact@snowdenoptiro.com

See you in Part 3!

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Snowden Optiro is a resources consulting and advisory group that provides independent advice, consulting and training to mining and exploration companies, their advisors and investors.

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.

LINK to Snowden Optiro website