The IASB issued IFRS 6 Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources in December 2004 as a result of a project taken over from the IASC. The standard was meant to be an interim step in the accounting for extractive activities.

In April 2010, the IASB published a discussion paper prepared by a project team of national standard-setters from Australia, Canada, Norway and South Africa and subsequently analysed the feedback. In December 2012, the IASB deactivated the project, but in 2019 reactivated to project to see whether changes to IFRSs and other documents, and other developments since the discussion paper was published had affected the issues and conclusions in the discussion paper. 

Based on evidence collected since reactivating the project, the IASB concluded at its September 2023 meeting that there is no compelling evidence that standard-setting would be necessary. While there is diversity in practice regarding the accounting for extractive activities, feedback from investors and other users of financial statements suggested that those diverse accounting policies were not a significant concern.

The project summary published today, therefore, concludes the project. Please see the press release and the project summary on the IFRS Foundation website.