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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Palmarejo Gold Stream
Coeur Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. (“Coeur Mexicana”), a subsidiary of Coeur, sells 50% of Palmarejo gold production (excluding production from certain properties acquired in 2015) to a subsidiary of Franco-Nevada Corporation (“Franco-Nevada”) under a gold stream agreement for the lesser of $800 or spot price per ounce. In 2015, Coeur Mexicana received a $22.0 million deposit toward future deliveries under the gold stream agreement. In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, although Coeur Mexicana has satisfied its contractual obligation to repay the deposit to Franco-Nevada, the deposit is accounted for as deferred revenue and is recognized as revenue on a units of production basis as ounces are sold to Franco-Nevada. At December 31, 2019 the remaining unamortized balance was $11.1 million, which is included in Accrued liabilities and other and Other long-term liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet.
Kensington Prepayment
In June 2019, Coeur entered into a transaction with an existing metal sales counterparty whereby it amended its existing sales and purchase contract for gold concentrate from its Kensington mine (the “Amended Sales Contract”) to allow for a $25.0 million prepayment for deliveries of gold concentrate from the Kensington mine. The Amended Sales Contract also includes an option to allow for an additional $15.0 million prepayment for deliveries of gold concentrate, which Coeur exercised in December 2019. In 2019, the Kensington mine delivered approximately $25.0 million of gold concentrate to the counterparty. The remaining deliveries of $15.0 million are recognized as a deferred revenue liability and are presented in Accrued liabilities and other on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Under the relevant terms of the Amended Sales Contract, Coeur maintains its exposure to the price of gold and expects to recognize the full value of the accrued liability by the June 2020.
Silvertip Contingent Consideration
A total of up to $50.0 million of contingent consideration, payable in cash and common stock, is payable in conjunction with the Silvertip Acquisition based upon the achievement of two milestones, one of which was achieved and paid during 2019 and the other of which the Company has determined to be probable at December 31, 2019. The first milestone payment of $25.0 million was contingent upon receipt of a permit expansion for a sustained mining and milling rate of 1,000 tonnes per day (the “Permit contingent consideration”). The permit application was submitted to the British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mining on April 30, 2018 and following its approval in November 2019, the Company provided a payment of $25.0 million in the form of $18.7 million in cash and 1.0 million shares of common stock to satisfy the Permit contingent consideration obligation. At December 31, 2019, based on the Silvertip mine’s total mineralized material (including reserves) (the “Resource contingent consideration”), the former JDS Silver Holdings Ltd. shareholders were entitled to the full second contingent payment of $25.0 million, which has been included in Accrued liabilities and other on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Subsequent to the end of the period covered by this Report, the Company made a payment of $25.0 million in the form of $18.8 million in cash and 0.9 million shares of common stock to satisfy the Resource contingent consideration obligation.
Mexico VAT Litigation
Included in non-current receivables as of December 31, 2019 are $28.0 million due from the Mexican government associated with VAT that was paid under Coeur Mexicana’s prior royalty agreement with a subsidiary of Franco-Nevada Corporation, which was terminated effective in 2016.  Under the royalty agreement, Coeur applied for and initially received VAT refunds associated with the royalty payments in the normal course; however, in 2011 the Mexican tax authorities began denying the Company’s VAT refunds based on the argument that VAT was not legally due on the royalty payments. Accordingly, Coeur began to request refunds of the VAT as undue payments, which the Mexican tax authorities also denied. The Company has since been engaged in ongoing efforts to recover the VAT from the Mexican government (including through litigation). Despite a favorable ruling from Mexican tax courts in this matter in 2018, litigation continues, some of which has been determined unfavorably to the Company in 2019 based on interpretations of applicable law and prior court decisions which the Company and its counsel believe are erroneous and which are now under appeal. While the Company believes that it remains legally entitled to be refunded the full amount of the VAT receivable, the Company may continue to experience delays or obstacles in the recovery of VAT and it is possible that some or all of the VAT receivable may not ultimately be recovered as outcomes in Mexican tax courts and the process for recovering funds even if there is a successful outcome in litigation can be unpredictable.
Other Commitments and Contingencies
As part of its ongoing business and operations, the Company and its affiliates are required to provide surety bonds, bank letters of credit and bank guarantees as financial support for various purposes, including environmental remediation, reclamation, and other general corporate purposes. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, we had surety bonds totaling $215.6 million and $216.3 million, respectively in place as financial support for future reclamation and closure costs. The obligations associated with these instruments are generally related to performance requirements that the Company addresses through its ongoing operations. As the specific requirements are met, the beneficiary of the associated instrument cancels and/or returns the instrument to the issuing
entity. Certain of these instruments are associated with operating sites with long-lived assets and will remain outstanding until closure. The Company believes it is in compliance with all applicable bonding obligations and will be able to satisfy future bonding requirements through existing or alternative means, as they arise.