Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Mexico Litigation Matters

As of December 31, 2021, $26.0 million is due from the Mexican government associated with VAT that was paid under Coeur Mexicana, S.A. de C.V.’s (“Coeur Mexicana’s”) prior royalty agreement with a subsidiary of Franco-Nevada Corporation, which was terminated in 2016. Coeur Mexicana 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 Coeur Mexicana’s VAT refunds based on the argument that VAT was not legally due on the royalty payments. Accordingly, Coeur Mexicana 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 and potential arbitration as well as refiling VAT refund requests). Despite a favorable ruling from Mexican tax courts in this matter in 2018, litigation has continued at the administrative, appeals court and supreme court levels, most of which has been determined unfavorably to Coeur (including during 2021) based on interpretations of applicable law and prior court decisions which the Company and its counsel believe are contrary to legal precedent, conflicting and erroneous. While the Company believes that it remains legally entitled to be refunded the full amount of the VAT receivable and intends to rigorously continue its VAT recovery efforts, based on the continued failure to recover the VAT receivable and recent unfavorable Mexican court decisions, the Company determined to write down the carrying value of the VAT receivable at September 30, 2021. Coeur Mexicana may still elect to initiate an arbitration proceeding under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Outcomes in NAFTA arbitration and the process for recovering funds even if there is a successful outcome in NAFTA arbitration can be lengthy and unpredictable.

In addition, ongoing litigation with the Mexican government associated with enforcement of water rights in Mexico, if unsuccessful, may impact Coeur Mexicana’s ability to access new sources of water to provide sufficient supply for its operations at Palmarejo and, if material, may have a material adverse impact on the Company’s operations and financial results.

Palmarejo Gold Stream

Coeur Mexicana 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 2016, 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, 2021 the remaining unamortized balance was $8.2 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”). From time to time, the Amended Sales Contract has been further amended to allow for additional prepayments, the latest occurring in July 2021, with an effective date as of June 28, 2021, to include options for Coeur to receive up to two additional prepayments of up to $15.0 million. In December 2020, Coeur exercised an option to receive the $15.0 million December 2020 Prepayment. In the first half of 2021, the Kensington mine delivered $15.0 million in satisfaction of the December 2020 Prepayment. In June 2021, Coeur exercised an option to receive the $15.0 million June 2021 Prepayment, and delivered $15.0 million against that $15.0 million in the second half of 2021. In December 2021, the Company exercised the option to receive the $15.0 million December 2021 Prepayment. The remaining deliveries of $15.0 million under the December 2021 Prepayment 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 remaining value of the accrued liability by December 31, 2022.

POA 11 Expansion Project

In the second half of 2021 the Company began seeing inflationary pressures on bids for remaining unawarded contracts on the POA 11 expansion project at Rochester during the second half of 2021, most notably on two structural, mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation (“SMPEI”) construction contracts for the Merrill-Crowe process plant and crushing circuit, respectively. Coeur recently selected the general SMPEI contractor for construction of the Merrill-Crowe process plant and crusher corridor based on a revised commercial approach from the previous lump-sum commercial model to a single contract. SMPEI work under the initial contract is beginning to advance.

Coeur has also advanced work related to implementation of pre-screens as part of the POA 11 expansion project and has elected to proceed with this scope change enhancement. As previously disclosed, the Company plans to integrate pre-screens into the current crushing system at Rochester, which is expected to drive improved performance while providing valuable operating experience and knowledge that can be applied to the new crushing circuit as part of the POA 11 expansion. Coeur has commenced detailed engineering for pre-screens and intends to align construction of the pre-screens with the completion of the crusher corridor. Installation of pre-screens on the existing crusher system is scheduled for the first half of 2022 with commissioning expected to begin around mid-year.

In connection with the items discussed above, the Company has conducted a comprehensive re-baselining of the overall schedule and costs associated with the original scope of POA 11.

Coeur now estimates the total construction capital for POA 11 to be approximately $597 million, which includes the 10-15% previously announced potential cost escalation as well as $70 - $80 million related to pre-screen implementation and additional porject contingency to reflect ongoing COVID and schedule risk. As of December 31, 2021, the Company has incurred approximately $236 million in the expansion and 61% of the capital is now committed (excluding the recently-awarded SMPEI contract, which is expected to be formalized in the first quarter).

Excluding capital leases, Coeur forecasts capital expenditures related to POA 11 to be approximately $217 - $257 million and $131 - $171 million in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Additional details on expected production and capital expenditures for Rochester can be found in the Technical Report Summary filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 16, 2022.

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, bank guarantees and, in some cases, cash as financial support for various purposes, including environmental remediation, reclamation, collateral for gold hedges and other general corporate purposes. As of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company had surety bonds totaling $315.1 million and $311.9 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 and from time-to-time, the Company may be required to post collateral, including cash or letters of credit which reduce availability under its revolving credit facility, to support these instruments. 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.