The purpose of the July 2005 public education session for the extractive activities research project was to:

• expand Board members' understanding of:
  • the key elements of the existing reserve and resource definitions for minerals and oil and gas;
  • the similarities and differences between those definitions - and the two industries more generally; and
• provide Board members with a further opportunity to ask mineral and oil and gas technical experts questions about reserves and resources; and
• seek the Board's initial reaction to the possible directions for defining reserves and resources for financial reporting purposes.

Much of the discussion was centred on the different definitions of reserves and resources including that of the SEC. The Board indicated its intention to reach one generic definition for financial reporting purposes and to then take into account some of the differences in the current definitions, probability assessments etc into the measurement and disclosure provisions of the Standard.