COMMITMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

COMMITMENTS

COMMITMENTS

9.           COMMITMENTS

The following table discloses, as of December 31, 2022, the Company’s contractual obligations including anticipated mineral property payments and work commitments. Under the terms of the Company’s mineral property purchase agreements, mineral leases and the terms of the unpatented mineral claims held by it, the Company is required to make certain scheduled acquisition payments, incur certain levels of expenditures, make lease or advance royalty payments, make payments to government authorities and incur assessment work expenditures as summarized in the table below in order to maintain and preserve the Company’s interests in the related mineral properties. If the Company is unable or unwilling to make any such payments or incur any such expenditures, it is likely that the Company would lose or forfeit its rights to acquire or hold the related mineral properties. The following table assumes that the Company retains the rights to all of its current mineral properties, but does not exercise any lease purchase or royalty buyout options:

	Payments Due by Year
											2028 and
	2023		2024		2025		2026		2027		beyond		Total
Mineral Property Leases(1)	$	535,578	$	541,273	$	547,039	$	552,877	$	558,788	$	564,773	$	3,300,328
Mining Claim Government Fees		206,215		206,215		206,215		206,215		206,215		206,215		1,237,290
Total	$	741,793	$	747,488	$	753,254	$	759,092	$	765,003	$	770,988	$	4,537,618

1. Does not include required work expenditures, as it is assumed that the required expenditure level is significantly below the work for which will actually be carried out by the Company. Does not include potential royalties that may be payable (other than annual minimum royalty payments). See Note 4.