Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Accounting

The Company’s consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The more significant areas requiring the use of management estimates and assumptions relate to mineral resources and related future metals prices that are the basis for future cash flow estimates utilized in impairment calculations; depreciation, depletion and amortization calculations; environmental reclamation and closure obligations; valuation allowances for deferred tax assets; and the fair value of financial instruments. The Company based its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ significantly from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Basis of Consolidation

a.Basis of Consolidation

All of the Company’s consolidated subsidiaries are 100% owned and as such the Company does not have a noncontrolling interest in any of its subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated at consolidation.

Translation of Foreign Currencies

b.Translation of Foreign Currencies

The Company’s revenue and external funding are primarily denominated in U.S. dollars. Substantially all of the Company’s significant expenditures are made with reference to U.S. dollars. Accordingly, the Company and its subsidiaries use the U.S. dollar as their functional and reporting currency.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

c.Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents.

Inventories

d.Inventories

Finished goods inventories include doré bars. Doré bars are valued at the lower of the average cost incurred prior to the refining process, plus applicable refining costs, or net realizable value.

In-process inventories represent material that is currently in the process of being converted to a saleable product. In-process material is measured based on assays of the material fed into the process and the projected recoveries of the respective processing plants. In-process inventories are valued at the lower of the average cost, plus the in-process conversion costs, or net realizable value.

Stockpiles represent ore that has been extracted from the mine and is available for further processing. Costs are added to stockpiles based on current mining costs. Stockpiles are recorded at the lower of average cost or net realizable value, and carrying values are evaluated at least quarterly. Net realizable value represents the estimated future sales price based on short-term and long-term metals price assumptions, less estimated costs to complete production and bring the product to sale.

Materials and supplies inventories are valued at the lower of average cost or net realizable value. Cost includes applicable taxes and freight. The Company routinely counts and evaluates its material and supplies to determine the existence of any obsolete stock that is subject to impairment.

Mining Properties, Exploration and Development Costs

e. Mining Properties, Exploration and Development Costs

The Company expenses general prospecting costs and the costs of acquiring and exploring unevaluated mining properties. When and if a mining property is determined to have proven and probable mineral reserves, subsequent development costs will be capitalized to mineral properties. For acquired mining properties with proven and probable mineral reserves, the Company will capitalize acquisition costs and subsequent development costs. When and if mining properties with proven and probable reserves are developed and operations commence, capitalized costs will be charged to operations using the units-of-production method over proven and probable reserves. Upon abandonment or sale of a mining property, all capitalized costs relating to the specific property are written off in the period abandoned or sold and a gain or loss is recognized in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations.

As discussed in Note 1, the Company is considered an exploration stage company under the criteria set forth by the SEC since it has not yet demonstrated the existence of mineral reserves at any of the Company’s properties. As the Company does not have proven and probable mineral reserves, substantially all expenditures at the Company’s Rodeo Property and the Velardeña Properties for mine construction activity, as well as operating costs associated with the mill facilities, and for items that do not have a readily identifiable market value apart from the mineral resources, have been expensed as incurred. Such costs are charged to cost of metals sold or project expense during the period depending on the nature of the costs. Certain costs may be reflected in inventories prior to the sale of the product.

On a quarterly basis the Company evaluates its exploration properties to determine if they meet the Company’s minimum requirements for continued evaluation. The rights to the properties that do not meet the minimum requirements are relinquished and the carrying values, if any, are written off and reflected in “Exploration expense” on the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Property, Plant and Equipment and Long-Lived Asset Impairment

f.Property, Plant and Equipment and Long-Lived Asset Impairment

Buildings are depreciated using the straight–line method over the estimated useful lives of the buildings, typically 30 to 40 years, or the estimated life of the mine, whichever is shorter. Mining equipment and machinery, excluding the plant, are depreciated using the straight-line method over useful lives of three to eight years or the lease period, whichever is shorter. Other furniture and equipment are depreciated using the straight-line method over estimated useful lives of three to five years.

As discussed above, the Company does not have any properties with proven or probable mineral reserves.

Property, plant and equipment are recorded at cost and per the guidance of ASC 360 the Company assesses the recoverability of its property, plant and equipment, whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. If the sum of estimated future net cash flows on an undiscounted basis is less than the carrying amount of the related asset, impairment is considered to exist. The related impairment loss is measured by comparing estimated future net cash flows on a discounted basis or by comparing other market indicators to the carrying amount of the asset.

The Company evaluated its remaining long-lived assets at December 31, 2023 and 2022, and determined that no impairment was incurred.

Asset Retirement Obligations

g.Asset Retirement Obligations

The Company records asset retirement obligations (“ARO”) in accordance with ASC 410, “Asset Retirement and Environmental Obligations” (“ASC 410”), which establishes a uniform methodology for accounting for estimated reclamation and abandonment costs. According to ASC 410, the fair value of an ARO is recognized in the period in which it is incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. An offsetting asset retirement cost (“ARC”) is capitalized as part of the carrying value of the assets with which it is associated and depreciated over the useful life of the asset (see Note 12).

The Company prepares estimates of the timing and amount of expected cash flows when an ARO is incurred. The fair value of the ARO is measured by discounting the expected cash flows using a discount rate that reflects the credit adjusted risk-free rate of interest. The Company records the fair value of an ARO when it is incurred and layer adjustments of the ARO are recorded as an adjustment to the corresponding ARC. The ARO is adjusted to reflect the passage of time (accretion cost) calculated by applying the discount rate implicit in the initial fair value measurement to the beginning-of-period carrying amount of the ARO. The Company records accretion costs to expense as incurred.

Value Added Taxes

h.Value Added Taxes

The Company pays value added tax (“VAT”) in Mexico as well as other countries, primarily related to the Rodeo operation and exploration projects. For exploration projects, the amounts paid are generally charged to expense as incurred because of the uncertainty of recoverability. For the Rodeo operation, the Company records VAT paid as a recoverable asset, which appears in “Value added tax receivable, net” on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Mexico law allows for certain VAT payments to be recovered through ongoing applications for refunds.

Revenue Recognition

i.Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue from the “Sale of Metals” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations following the guidance of ASC 606. Under the terms of the Company’s agreement with its customer, title passes, and revenue is recognized by the Company when the contractual performance obligations of the parties are completed. Refining and transport costs, deducted from the final payments made, are treated as third party costs incurred after the transfer of control on provisional sales, and are therefore netted against revenue on an accrual basis.

Stock Compensation

j.Stock-Based Compensation

The Company records stock-based compensation awards at fair value on the date of the grant and expenses the awards in the Consolidated Statements of Operations over the requisite employee service period on a straight-line basis (see Note 16). The fair value of the awards is based on the Company’s stock price on the date of the grant. The Company recognizes forfeitures as they occur.

Leases

k.Leases

Effective January 1, 2019 the Company adopted ASU 2016-02 and ASU No. 2018-11, which requires lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases with terms greater than twelve months. Leases are classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement.

Net Income (Loss) per Share of Common Stock

l.Net Income (Loss) per Share of Common Stock

Basic income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) available to holders of the Company’s Common Stock by the weighted average number of shares of Common Stock outstanding for the period. Diluted income (loss) per share reflects the potential dilution that would occur if securities or other contracts to issue Common Stock were exercised or converted into Common Stock.

At December 31, 2023 and 2022, all potentially dilutive shares relating to warrants and stock compensation awards were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share because to include them would have been anti-dilutive.

Income Taxes

m.Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with the provisions of ASC 740, “Income Taxes” (“ASC 740”), on a tax jurisdictional basis. The Company files United States and certain other foreign country income tax returns, and pays taxes reasonably determined to be due. The tax rules and regulations in these countries are highly complex and subject to interpretation. The Company’s income tax returns are subject to examination by the relevant taxing authorities and in connection with such examinations, disputes can arise with the taxing authorities over the interpretation or application of certain tax rules within the country involved. In accordance with ASC 740, the Company identifies and evaluates uncertain tax positions, and recognizes the impact of uncertain tax positions for which there is a less than more-likely-than-not probability of the position being upheld when reviewed by the relevant taxing authority. Such positions are deemed to be unrecognized tax benefits and a corresponding liability is established on the balance sheet.

The Company classifies income tax related interest and penalties as income tax expense.

Recently Issued Pronouncements

n.Recently Issued Pronouncements

In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures. The new standard requires enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses and other segment items and interim disclosure of items that were previously required on an annual basis. ASU 2023-07 is to be applied on a retrospective basis and is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2023-07 on our consolidated financial statements.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures. The amendments in this update are intended to enhance the transparency and decision usefulness of income tax disclosures primarily related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information. This update is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted and should be applied on a prospective basis, however retrospective application is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2023-09 on our consolidated financial statements.