How this list is built

1. What the list is for

The list finds mining companies that are drilling, or about to, and are the right size for core logging software:

• It is built from what each company has said in public, in its own words.
• Every claim on it carries a quote, the date of the document and a link to the source.
• Nothing is inferred from a company's size, sector or web traffic.

If you can't trace a line back to a document, tell us and we'll take it out.

2. Where the companies come from

The starting point is every miner and explorer we can name:

• Listed miners and explorers, from the exchange's own list.
• Private and foreign-owned tenement holders, from the state tenement registers.
• The largest producers are assessed and then held off the list, along with any company running three or more mines.
• Your customers are taken off once we have your customer list.

That leaves the small producers and explorers the list is built for.

3. What we read

Everything we read is a public document:

• Exchange announcements - quarterly reports, drilling updates, capital raisings and resource estimates.
• State tenement registers - grants and applications.
• Job advertisements - geology, field and core yard roles.
• Trade press - mines and projects being bought or sold.

We keep a copy of each document, so a signal can always be checked against the page it came from.

4. The questions we ask

We ask the same fixed set of questions of every document. Each question has a fixed set of possible answers:

• Is drilling planned, under way, or just reported on?
• Has the company raised money for drilling, and how long will its cash last?
• Is there a new resource estimate, a tenement change, or a mine being bought or sold?
• Is it hiring geologists, field or core yard staff?
• How does it log core - on paper, in spreadsheets, in Access or in commercial software?
• How many mines does it operate?

Where a document doesn't answer a question, we record nothing. We never fill a gap with a guess.

5. What a signal is

A signal is an answer that matters to you, with the evidence attached:

• What they said - the answer in plain words, for example "Was drilling".
• Their words - the sentence from the document, quoted as written.
• Document date - the date on the document itself. This is not the date we read it.
• Source - a link to the document.
• Why it matters - one line on what the signal means for a sales call.

An answer with no quote behind it is never shown.

6. How a company gets on the list

A company has to pass one of two tests. There is no cap on how many can pass:

• Priority one - one or two operating mines, and drilling that is planned, under way or just reported.
• Priority two - no operating mine yet, drilling planned or under way, and the money to do it.

A company that passes neither test is not on the list, however many signals it has.

7. How the list is ranked

Priority one comes first, then priority two carries on the numbering. The strongest drilling signal sets the rank and everything else adds to it:

• About to drill ranks first, then drilling now, then drilled in the last 90 days.
• A signal counts in full for 30 days, then counts for less as it ages.
• Buying a mine or project lifts a company.
• Logging on paper, in Excel or in Access lifts a company.
• Commercial logging software lowers a company. It never removes one.

You won't see a number for how strong a company is. You'll see the rank and the signals that set it, marked "Sets the rank".

8. How it is checked

Before a list reaches you, we read the signals that set each rank against their source documents:

• A signal that is wrong comes out, and the company is ranked again without it.
• A company can leave the list on that check.
• Each company shows whether it has been checked by hand, and so does each signal.
• Other signals on record are shown too. Most of those have not been checked by hand, and each one says so.

One fault to watch for - a partner's drilling can be read as the company's own.

9. The people

For each company we look for the people worth calling, decision maker first:

• Decision maker - the exploration or geology manager at most companies, the chief executive at very small ones.
• Daily user - the geologist who logs the core.
• Sponsor - the managing director or chief executive.
• Names come from the company's own announcements and from LinkedIn. Each person links to where we found them.
• An email is only shown once it has been verified. If it sits on another domain, it says so.
• A mobile number is looked up only when you ask for one.

Titles change. Check the profile before you call.

10. How the list changes

The list is rebuilt from new documents, and each update is recorded:

• The Changelog shows every update, with the companies that joined, left or moved, and why.
• Your stars and notes stay with their company, signal or person through an update.
• A record that leaves the list keeps its notes. They show as "no longer on the list".

Tell us what's wrong or missing and it goes into the next update.

Where the data stops

A few limits to keep in mind before you pick up the phone:

• A document date can be weeks old. A rig may have started since.
• Some listed companies drill overseas only. Each company shows where it works.
• Private companies publish far less than listed ones, so fewer of them reach the list.
• We read what is published. A plan a company has not announced will not be here.