ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. These three broad categories are used to evaluate the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a company or business. Here’s what each component generally focuses on:

Environmental criteria consider how a company performs as a steward of nature. This includes its energy use, waste, pollution, natural resource conservation, and treatment of animals. The criteria can also help evaluate any environmental risks a company might face and how the company is managing those risks.

Social criteria examine how it manages relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities where it operates. This can include labor practices, employee health and safety, and the company’s impact on the communities where it operates.

Governance deals with a company’s leadership, executive pay, audits, internal controls, and shareholder rights. This aspect looks into how a company is governed, particularly in terms of transparency, accountability, and business ethics.

These factors are increasingly important to investors, as they can affect a company’s profitability, risk profile, and overall sustainability.

While U.S. Patented Land Claims offer a clear pathway for tokenization within the NatGold industry, given the presence of certified gold resources, the opportunity to obtain new Patented Land Claims was effectively closed in 1994. That year, the United States Congress enacted a moratorium that significantly restricted the issuance of new mineral patents, although it grandfathered existing claims that had fulfilled all requirements before its enactment.

To develop a truly global NatGold market, there is an urgent need for NatGold legislation that accommodates the digital mining of all certified gold resources. This legislation is critical not only at the federal and state levels in the United States but also internationally, aiming to establish a cohesive, globally recognized standard for the NatGold industry.

Regulation S-K 1300 is a set of regulations implemented by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to modernize and improve the disclosure and reporting standards for mining properties. It replaced the previous Industry Guide 7, aiming to align U.S. reporting requirements more closely with global standards.

CRIRSCO’s International Reporting Template (IRT) played a significant role in the development of Regulation S-K 1300. The IRT provided a framework that helped harmonize the various national and regional reporting standards into a globally accepted guideline. This alignment was crucial in informing the SEC’s approach, ensuring that S-K 1300 would facilitate greater consistency and comparability in the reporting of mineral resources and reserves, aligning it more closely with international standards and enhancing the transparency of disclosures to better serve global investors.

The Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO) is a pivotal non-profit organization dedicated to harmonizing global mining reporting practices. It comprises representatives from National Reporting Organizations (NROs) from various countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, and South Africa. CRIRSCO provides the International Reporting Template (IRT), a framework that aligns national and regional standards into a globally recognized guideline, ensuring consistency and comparability in the reporting of mineral estimates, resources, and reserves worldwide.

Although CRIRSCO doesn’t have a central physical headquarters, it operates through its member organizations spread across these countries. This template aids in maintaining transparency and reliability in public reporting, which is crucial for investor trust and regulatory effectiveness in the mining sector. CRIRSCO’s international collaborations and its endorsement by global entities underline its significant role in shaping mining standards globally.

The NatGold Integrity Trust, established by the International NatGold Council and incorporated in Delaware, plays a critical role in the NatGold ecosystem. As the pivotal entity overseeing the tokenization of NatGold mining titles into NatGold coins, the Trust also holds custody of these titles, ensuring the integrity and transparency of the process.

The Trust’s operation involves a meticulous approval process for tokenizing NatGold mining titles, managed by three independent trustees appointed by the International NatGold Council. These trustees, experts in securities law and NI 43-101 resource reporting, conduct their roles without direct financial interests in the industry participants, underscoring the Trust’s commitment to unbiased and ethical governance.

Upon approval, the NatGold Integrity Trust deposits the mining titles, corresponding NI 43-101 Technical Reports, and accompanying due diligence materials into the NatGold Digital Vault. Here, the certified gold resources are digitally tokenized into NatGold coins based on standardized ratios set by the International NatGold Council. This ensures that every NatGold coin is backed by verified gold resources, maintaining the system’s integrity and offering a transparent digital asset backed by tangible value.