PGLC Pershing Gold Corp.

ITEM 1A:  RISK FACTORS

Investors in Pershing Gold should consider carefully in addition to the other information contained in, or incorporated by reference into, this annual report on Form 10-K, the following risk factors.

Risks Related to Our Business

We have no proven or probable reserves on our properties and we do not know if our properties contain any gold or other minerals that can be mined at a profit.

The properties on which we have the right to explore for gold and other minerals do not contain mineral reserves and we do not know if any deposits of gold or other minerals can be mined at a profit. Whether a gold or other mineral deposit can be mined at a profit depends upon many factors. Some but not all of these factors include: the particular attributes of the deposit, such as size, grade and proximity to infrastructure; operating costs and capital expenditures required to start mining a deposit; the availability and cost of financing; the price of the gold or other minerals which is highly volatile and cyclical; and government regulations, including regulations relating to prices, taxes, royalties, land use, importing and exporting of minerals and environmental protection. We are also obligated to pay production royalties on certain of our mineral production, including a net smelter royalty of 2% on production from most of our Relief Canyon Mine property, with a portion of the deposit located on property subject to net smelter return production royalties totaling 4.5%, which would increase our costs of production and make our ability to operate profitably more difficult. We are also obligated to pay a net smelter royalty of up to 5% on production from some of our claims and lands.

We are an exploration stage company and have conducted exploration activities only since 2011. We reported a net loss for the year ended December 31, 2016, and expect to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future.

Our evaluation of our Relief Canyon Mine property is primarily based on historical production data and on new exploration data that we have developed since 2011, supplemented by historical exploration data. Our plans for recommencing mining and processing activities at the Relief Canyon Mine property are still being developed, as are our exploration programs on the Relief Canyon expansion properties. Accordingly, we are not yet in a position to estimate expected amounts of minerals, yields or values or evaluate the likelihood that our business will be successful. We have not earned any revenues from mining operations. The likelihood of success must be considered in light of the problems, expenses, difficulties, complications and delays encountered in connection with the exploration of the mineral properties and commencement of mining activities that we plan to undertake. These potential problems include, but are not limited to, unanticipated problems relating to exploration, costs and expenses that may exceed current estimates and the requirement for external funding to continue our business. Prior to completion of our exploration stage, we anticipate that we will incur increased operating expenses without realizing any revenues. We reported a net loss of approximately $15.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. We expect to incur significant losses into the foreseeable future. Our monthly burn rate for all costs during 2016 was approximately $0.9 million, including $0.5 million for general and administrative costs (including all employee salaries, public company expenses, consultants, and land holdings costs and $0.4 million for exploration activities). If we decide to pursue a plan to commence mining and processing at Relief Canyon, additional external financing would be required. If we are unable to raise external funding, and eventually generate significant revenues from our claims and properties, we will not be able to earn profits or continue operations. We have no production history upon which to base any assumption as to the likelihood that we will prove successful, and it is uncertain that we will generate any operating revenues or ever achieve profitable operations. If we are unsuccessful in addressing these risks, our business will most likely fail.

Exploring for gold and other minerals is inherently speculative, involves substantial expenditures, and is frequently non-productive.

Mineral exploration (currently our only business), and gold exploration in particular, is a business that by its nature is very speculative. We may not be able to establish mineral reserves on our properties or be able to mine any gold or any other minerals on a profitable basis. Few properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines. Unusual or unexpected geological conditions, fires, flooding, explosions, cave-ins, landslides and the inability to obtain suitable or adequate machinery, equipment or labor are just some of the many risks involved in mineral exploration programs and the subsequent development of gold deposits.

The mining industry is capital intensive and we may be unable to raise necessary funding.

We spent approximately $11.3 million on our business and exploration during the year ended December 31, 2016. Our estimated total cost for 2017 for exploration, permitting, landholding, facilities recommissioning and for general and administrative costs is approximately $9.5 million. If we decide to pursue the commencement of production at Relief Canyon, additional external financing would be required. In addition, even if we do not decide to pursue the commencement of production at Relief Canyon, we will be required to raise additional funds in order to finance our operations. We may be unable to secure additional financing on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Moreover, although we have entered into a non-binding term sheet with Sprott Resource Lending, as discussed below in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation – Liquidity and Capital Resources,” we may not ultimately enter into a binding agreement with them or meet the conditions necessary to draw any amount off that facility. Our inability to raise additional funds would prevent us from achieving our business objectives and would have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and the value of our securities. If we raise additional funds by issuing additional equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership of existing stockholders may be diluted and the securities that we may issue in the future may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of the current holders of our common stock. Such securities may also be issued at a discount to the market price of our common stock, resulting in possible further dilution to the book value per share of common stock. If we raise additional funds by issuing debt, we could be subject to debt covenants that could place limitations on our operations and financial flexibility.

If we decide to pursue the commencement of mining and processing activities at Relief Canyon, unanticipated problems or delays may negatively affect our business and financial condition.

If we were to decide to pursue the commencement of mining and processing activities at Relief Canyon, additional external financing would be required.  Although the Relief Canyon Mine currently has an available leach pad and processing facility and we have senior mine and processing personnel in place, we would be required to obtain mining equipment (which could be through purchase, lease, contract mining or a combination of these), hire employees for the mine and the processing plant, purchase materials and supplies, commence mining, leaching and processing activities, and continue these activities as well as the corporate activities currently conducted for a number of months until sufficient positive cash flow is produced by gold sales to fund all of these ongoing activities. We may suffer significant delays or cost overruns as a result of a variety of factors, such as increases in the prices of materials, mining or processing problems, unanticipated variations in mined materials, shortages of workers or materials, transportation constraints, adverse weather, equipment failures, fires, damage to or destruction of property and equipment, environmental problems, unforeseen difficulties or labor issues, any of which could delay or prevent us from commencing or ramping up mining and processing. If our start-up were prolonged or delayed or our costs were higher than anticipated, we could be unable to obtain sufficient funds to cover the additional costs, and our business could experience a substantial setback. Prolonged problems could have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial condition or results of operations and threaten our viability.

We are a junior exploration company with no mining activities and we may never have any mining activities in the future.

Our primary business is exploring for gold and, to a lesser extent, other minerals. If we discover commercially exploitable gold or other deposits, we will not be able to make any money from mining activities unless the gold or other deposits are actually mined, or we sell our interest. Accordingly, we will need to seek additional capital through debt or equity financing, find some other entity to mine our properties or operate our facilities on our behalf, enter into joint venture or other arrangements with a third party, or sell or lease the property or rights to mine to third parties. Mine development projects typically require a number of years and significant expenditures during the development phase before production is possible. Such projects could experience unexpected problems and delays during development, construction and mine start up. Mining operations in the United States are subject to many different federal, state and local laws and regulations, including stringent environmental, health and safety laws. If and when we assume operational responsibility for mining on our properties, we must demonstrate that we will be able to comply with current or future laws and regulations, which can change at any time. It is possible that changes to these laws will be adverse to any potential mining operations. Moreover, compliance with such laws may cause substantial delays and require capital outlays in excess of those anticipated, adversely affecting any potential mining operations. Our future mining operations, if any, may also be subject to liability for pollution or other environmental damage. It is possible that we will choose to not be insured against this risk because of high insurance costs or other reasons.

We must make annual lease payments, advance royalty and royalty payments and claim maintenance payments or we will lose our rights to our property.

We are required under the terms of the leases covering some of our property interests to make annual lease payments and advance royalty and royalty payments each year. We are also required to make annual claim maintenance payments to the BLM and pay a fee to Pershing County in order to maintain our rights to explore and, if warranted, to develop our unpatented mining claims. If we fail to meet these obligations, we will lose the right to explore for gold and other minerals on our property. Our total annual property maintenance costs payable to the BLM and Pershing County for all of the unpatented mining claims and millsites in the Relief Canyon area in 2016 were approximately $207,000, and we expect our annual maintenance costs to be approximately $207,000 in 2017. Our lease payments, advance royalty and royalty payments and claim maintenance payments are described above under “Our Business.”

Our business is subject to extensive environmental regulations that may make exploring, mining or related activities prohibitively expensive, and which may change at any time.

All of our operations are subject to extensive environmental regulations that can substantially delay exploration and mine development and make exploration and mine development expensive or prohibit it altogether. We may be subject to potential liabilities associated with the pollution of the environment and the disposal of waste products that may occur as the result of exploring and other related activities on our properties, including our plan to process gold at our processing facility. We may have to pay to remedy environmental pollution, which may reduce the amount of money that we have available to use for exploration, mine development, or other activities, and adversely affect our financial position. If we are unable to fully remedy an environmental problem, we might be required to suspend operations or to enter into interim compliance measures pending the completion of the required remedy. If a decision is made to mine our properties and we retain any operational responsibility for doing so, our potential exposure for remediation may be significant, and this may have a material adverse effect upon our business and financial position. We have not purchased insurance for potential environmental risks (including potential liability for pollution or other hazards associated with the disposal of waste products from our exploration activities) and such insurance may not be available to us on reasonable terms or at a reasonable price. All of our exploration and, if warranted, development activities will be subject to regulation under one or more local, state and federal environmental impact analyses and public review processes. It is possible that future changes in applicable laws, regulations and permits or changes in their enforcement or regulatory interpretation could have significant impact on some portion of our business, which may require our business to be economically re-evaluated from time to time. These risks include, but are not limited to, the risk that regulatory authorities may increase bonding requirements beyond our financial capability. Inasmuch as posting of bonding in accordance with regulatory determinations is a condition to the right to operate under specific federal and state operating permits, increases in bonding requirements could prevent operations even if we are in full compliance with all substantive environmental laws. We have been required to post a substantial bond under various laws relating to mining and the environment and may in the future be required to post a larger bond to pursue additional activities. For example, we must provide BLM and the NDEP additional financial assurance (reclamation bonds) to guarantee reclamation of any new surface disturbance required for drill roads, drill sites, or mine expansion. In March 2017, we increased the amount of our reclamation bond with BLM and the NDEP to approximately $12.3 million. Approximately $12.2 million of our reclamation bond covers both exploration and mining at the Relief Canyon Mine property, including the three open-pit mines and associated waste rock disposal areas, the mineral processing facilities, ancillary facilities, and the exploration roads and drill pads. Approximately $10,500 covers exploration on the Relief Canyon expansion properties. Approximately $76,000 of the reclamation bond remains available for future mining or exploration operations. The reclamation bond was collateralized by approximately 30% of the $12.3 million bond amount, or about $3.7 million. Our preliminary estimate of the likely amount of additional financial assurance for future exploration is approximately $100,000, although we expect periodic increases due to effects of inflation.

The government licenses and permits which we need to explore on our property may take too long to acquire or cost too much to enable us to proceed with exploration. In the event that we conclude that the Relief Canyon Mine deposit can be profitably mined, or discover other commercially exploitable deposits, we may face substantial delays and costs associated with securing the additional government licenses and permits that could preclude our ability to develop the mine.

Exploration activities usually require the granting of permits from various governmental agencies. For example, exploration drilling on unpatented mining claims requires a permit to be obtained from the BLM, which may take several months or longer to grant the requested permit. Depending on the size, location and scope of the exploration program, additional permits may also be required before exploration activities can be undertaken. Prehistoric or Indian graves, threatened or endangered species, archeological sites or the possibility thereof, difficult access and excessive dust may all result in the need for additional permits before exploration activities can commence.

If we conclude that the Relief Canyon deposit can be profitably mined and the minable material exceeds 21 million tons, the current capacity of the leach pad, we would need to seek an amendment of the processing facility permit to expand the capacity of the leach pad and ponds to accommodate additional material. As with all permitting processes, there is substantial uncertainty about when and if the permit will be issued. There is the risk that unexpected delays and excessive costs may be experienced in obtaining required permits. The needed permit may not be granted or could be challenged by third parties, which could result in protracted litigation that could cause substantial delays, or may be granted in an unacceptable timeframe or cost too much. While permitting efforts have not encountered opposition to date, proposed mineral exploration and mining projects can become controversial and be opposed by nearby landowners and communities, which can substantially delay and interfere with the permitting process. Delays in or inability to obtain necessary permits would result in unanticipated costs, which may result in serious adverse effects upon our business.

The value of our property and any other deposits we may seek or locate is subject to volatility in the price of gold.

Our ability to obtain additional and continuing funding, and our profitability if and when we commence mining or sell our rights to mine, will be significantly affected by changes in the market price of gold and other mineral deposits. Gold and other minerals prices fluctuate widely and are affected by numerous factors, all of which are beyond our control. The price of gold may be influenced by:

 The price of gold and other minerals have fluctuated widely in recent years, and a decline in the price of gold or other minerals could cause a significant decrease in the value of our property, limit our ability to raise money, and render continued exploration and development of our property impracticable. If that happens, then we could lose our rights to our property or be compelled to sell some or all of these rights. Additionally, the future development of our mining properties beyond the exploration stage is heavily dependent upon gold prices remaining sufficiently high to make the development of our property economically viable.

Our property title may be challenged. We are not insured against any challenges, impairments or defects to our mining claims or title to our other properties.

Our property is comprised primarily of unpatented lode mining claims and millsites located and maintained in accordance with the federal General Mining Law of 1872 (the “General Mining Law”). Unpatented lode mining claims and millsites are unique U.S. property interests and are generally considered to be subject to greater title risk than other real property interests because the validity of unpatented mining claims and millsites is often uncertain. This uncertainty arises, in part, out of the complex federal and state laws and regulations with which the owner of an unpatented mining claim or millsite must comply in order to locate and maintain a valid claim. Moreover, if we discover mineralization that is close to the claim boundaries, it is possible that some or all of the mineralization may occur outside the boundaries on lands that we do not control. In such a case we would not have the right to extract those minerals. We do not have title reports or opinions covering all of our Relief Canyon properties. The uncertainty resulting from not having title opinions for all of our Relief Canyon properties or having detailed claim surveys on all of our properties leaves us exposed to potential title defects. Defending challenges to our property title would be costly, and may divert funds that could otherwise be used for exploration activities and other purposes.

In addition, unpatented lode mining claims and millsites are always subject to possible challenges by third parties or contests by the federal government, which, if successful, may prevent us from exploiting any discovery of commercially extractable gold. Challenges to our title may increase our costs of operation or limit our ability to explore on certain portions of our property. We are not insured against challenges, impairments or defects to our property title.

Possible amendments to the General Mining Law and other environmental regulations could make it more difficult or impossible for us to execute our business plan.

In recent years, the U.S. Congress has considered a number of proposed amendments to the General Mining Law, as well as legislation that would make comprehensive changes to the law. Although no such legislation has been adopted to date, there can be no assurance that such legislation will not be adopted in the future. If adopted, such legislation, if it includes concepts that have been part of previous legislative proposals, could, among other things, (i) limit the number of millsites that a claimant may use, discussed below, (ii) impose time limits on the effectiveness of plans of operation that may not coincide with mine life, (iii) impose more stringent environmental compliance and reclamation requirements on activities on unpatented mining claims and millsites, (iv) establish a mechanism that would allow states, localities and Native American tribes to petition for the withdrawal of identified tracts of federal land from the operation of the General Mining Law, (v) allow for administrative determinations that mining would not be allowed in situations where undue degradation of the federal lands in question could not be prevented, (vi) impose royalties on gold and other mineral production from unpatented mining claims or impose fees on production from patented mining claims, and (vii) impose a fee on the amount of material displaced at a mine. Further, it could have an adverse impact on earnings from our operations, could reduce estimates of any reserves we may establish and could curtail our future exploration and development activity on our unpatented claims.

Our ability to conduct exploration, development, mining and related activities may also be impacted by administrative actions taken by federal agencies. With respect to unpatented millsites, for example, the ability to use millsites and their validity has been subject to greater uncertainty since 1997. In November of 1997, the Secretary of the Interior (appointed by President Clinton) approved a Solicitor’s Opinion that concluded that the General Mining Law imposed a limitation that only a single five-acre millsite may be claimed or used in connection with each associated and valid unpatented or patented lode mining claim. Subsequently, however, on November 7, 2003, the new Secretary of the Interior (appointed by President Bush) approved an Opinion by the Deputy Solicitor which concluded that the mining laws do not impose a limitation that only a single five-acre millsite may be claimed in connection with each associated unpatented or patented lode mining claim. Current federal regulations do not include the millsite limitation. There can be no assurance, however, that the Department of the Interior will not seek to re-impose the millsite limitation at some point in the future.

In addition, a consortium of environmental groups has filed a lawsuit in the United District Court for the District of Columbia against the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the BLM, and the U.S. Forest Service (“USFS”), asking the court to order the BLM and USFS to adopt the five-acre millsite limitation. That lawsuit also asks the court to order the BLM and the USFS to require mining claimants to pay fair market value for their use of the surface of federal lands where those claimants have not demonstrated the validity of their unpatented mining claims and millsites. If the plaintiffs in that lawsuit were to prevail, that could have an adverse impact on our ability to use our unpatented millsites for facilities ancillary to our exploration, development and mining activities, and could significantly increase the cost of using federal lands at our properties for such ancillary facilities.

In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced that it would develop financial assurance requirements under CERCLA Section 108(b) for the hard rock mining industry. On January 29, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order requiring that if the EPA intended to prepare such regulations, it had to do so by December 1, 2016. The EPA issued its proposed rule on January 11, 2017. Under the proposed rule, owners and operators of facilities subject to the rule would be required to (i) notify the EPA that they are subject to the rule; (ii) calculate a level of financial responsibility for their facility using a formula provided in the rule; (iii) obtain a financial responsibility instrument, or qualify to self-assure, for the amount of financial responsibility; (iv) demonstrate that they have obtained such evidence of financial responsibility; and (v) update and maintain financial responsibility until the EPA releases the owner or operator from the CERCLA Section 108(b) regulations. As drafted, those additional financial assurance obligations could be in addition to the reclamation bonds and other financial assurances the Company has and would be required to have in place under current federal and state laws. The public comment period for the proposed rule has been extended through July 11, 2017. If such requirements are retained in the final rule, they could require significant additional expenditures on financial assurance, which could have a material adverse effect on our future business operations.

Market forces or unforeseen developments may prevent us from obtaining the supplies and equipment necessary to explore for gold and other minerals.

Gold exploration, and mineral exploration in general, is a very competitive business. Competitive demands for contractors and unforeseen shortages of supplies and/or equipment could result in the disruption of our planned exploration activities. Current demand for exploration drilling services, equipment and supplies is robust and could result in suitable equipment and skilled manpower being unavailable at scheduled times for our exploration program. Fuel prices are extremely volatile as well. We will attempt to locate suitable equipment, materials, manpower and fuel if sufficient funds are available. If we cannot find the equipment and supplies needed for our various exploration programs, we may have to suspend some or all of them until equipment, supplies, funds and/or skilled manpower become available. Any such disruption in our activities may adversely affect our exploration activities and financial condition.

Our directors and executive officers lack significant experience or technical training in exploring for precious and base metal deposits and in developing mines.

Most of our directors and executive officers lack significant experience or technical training in exploring for precious and base metal deposits and in developing mines. Accordingly, although one of our directors, D. Scott Barr, has more than 35 years of metallurgical and mine operations experience, our Senior Vice President has significant experience and expertise in environmental permitting and regulatory matters for developing and operating mines and our Chief Operating Officer has significant experience with mine operations, our management may not be fully aware of many of the other specific requirements related to working within this industry. Their decisions and choices may not take into account standard engineering or managerial approaches that mineral exploration companies commonly use. Consequently, our operations, earnings, and ultimate financial success could suffer irreparable harm due to some of our management’s lack of experience in the mining industry.

We may not be able to maintain the infrastructure necessary to conduct exploration activities.

Our exploration and future potential mine development activities depend upon adequate infrastructure. Reliable roads, bridges, power sources and water supply are important factors that affect capital and operating costs. Unusual or infrequent weather phenomena, sabotage, government or other interference in the maintenance or provision of such infrastructure could adversely affect our exploration activities and financial condition.

Our exploration activities and future mine development may be adversely affected by the local climate or seismic events, which could prevent us from gaining access to our property year-round.

Earthquakes, heavy rains, snowstorms, and floods could result in serious damage to or the destruction of facilities, equipment or means of access to our property, or may otherwise prevent us from conducting exploration activities on our property. There may be short periods of time when the unpaved portion of the access road is impassible in the event of extreme weather conditions or unusually muddy conditions. During these periods, it may be difficult or impossible for us to access our property, make repairs, or otherwise conduct exploration or mine development activities on them.

Risks Relating to Our Organization and Our Common Stock

We have relied on certain stockholders to provide significant investment capital to fund our operations.

We have in the past relied on cash infusions primarily from Frost Gamma Investments Trust (“Frost Gamma”) and one of the Company’s directors, Barry Honig. During the year ended December 31, 2012, Frost Gamma provided approximately $4.6 million in consideration for the issuance of certain of our securities. In the year ended December 31, 2013, Mr. Honig provided approximately $5.6 million to us in consideration for the issuance of shares of the Company’s Series E Preferred Stock. Additionally, Mr. Honig and Frost Gamma provided approximately $1.9 million and $150,000, respectively, to us in consideration for the issuance of shares of common stock and warrants to purchase shares of common stock in July 2014 private placements. Mr. Honig invested $150,000 in a private placement of our common stock in October 2014, $2.5 million in an April 2015 private placement, and $1.25 million in a February 2016 private placement. Donald Smith invested $6 million in a March 2016 private placement. Curtailment of cash investments by significant investors could detrimentally impact our cash availability and our ability to fund our operations.

Our principal stockholders, officers and directors own a substantial interest in our voting securities, and investors may have limited voice in our management.

Our principal stockholders, Barry Honig, Donald Smith, and Levon Resources Ltd. (“Levon Resources”), as well as our officers and directors, own, in the aggregate, in excess of approximately 49.0% of our voting securities, including shares of common stock issuable upon the conversion of our Series E Preferred Stock. As of March 27, 2017, Mr. Honig, who is a director, owned 8,842,763 or approximately 28.4%, of our voting securities, Mr. Smith owned 3,251,500, or approximately 10.5%, of our voting securities, and Levon Resources owned 1,954,366, or approximately 6.3%, of our voting securities. As of that date, our officers and directors, including Mr. Honig, owned 10,009,787, or approximately 32.2%, of our voting securities. Additionally, the holdings of our officers and directors may increase in the future upon exercise of options, warrants or convertible securities they may hold or be granted in the future or if they otherwise acquire additional shares of our common stock, including through grants under our employee benefit plans.

As a result of their ownership and positions, our principal stockholder, directors and executive officers collectively may be able to influence all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the following matters:

In addition, their stock ownership may discourage a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Company, which in turn could reduce our stock price or prevent our stockholders from realizing a premium over our stock price.

We are subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and other federal securities laws, as well as the listing rules of Nasdaq and the TSX.

The costs of preparing and filing annual and quarterly reports and other information with the SEC and furnishing audited reports to stockholders will cause our expenses to be higher than they would have been if we were privately held. These costs for the years ended December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2016 were approximately $950,000 and $850,000 respectively. We estimate that these costs will be approximately $850,000 for the year ending 2017.  

It may be time consuming, difficult and costly for us to develop, implement and maintain the internal controls and reporting procedures required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”). We may need to hire additional financial reporting, internal controls and other finance personnel in order to develop and implement appropriate internal controls and reporting procedures.

If we fail to establish and maintain an effective system of internal control, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or to prevent fraud. Any inability to report and file our financial results accurately and timely could harm our reputation and adversely impact the trading price of our common stock and our ability to file registration statements pursuant to registration rights agreements and other commitments.

Effective internal control is necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, we may not be able to manage our business as effectively as we would if an effective control environment existed, and our business and reputation with investors may be harmed. As a result of our small size, any current internal control deficiencies may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operation and access to capital. Although, as of December 31, 2016, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, there can be no assurance that our internal control over financial reporting will remain effective.

Public company compliance may make it more difficult to attract and retain officers and directors.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and rules implemented by the SEC have required changes in corporate governance practices of public companies. As a public company, we expect these rules and regulations to further increase our compliance costs and to make certain activities more time consuming and costly. As a public company, we also expect that these rules and regulations may make it more difficult and expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers, and to maintain insurance at reasonable rates, or at all.

Our stock price may be volatile.

The market price of our common stock is likely to be highly volatile and could fluctuate widely in price in response to various factors, many of which are beyond our control, including the following:

In addition, the securities markets have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may also materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock. As a result, you may be unable to resell your shares of our common stock at a desired price.

Volatility in the price of our common stock may subject us to securities litigation.

As discussed above, the market for our common stock is characterized by significant price volatility when compared to seasoned issuers, and we expect that our share price will continue to be more volatile than a seasoned issuer for the indefinite future. In the past, plaintiffs have often initiated securities class action litigation against a company following periods of volatility in the market price of its securities. We may in the future be the target of similar litigation. Securities litigation could result in substantial costs and liabilities and could divert management’s attention and resources.

We have not paid cash dividends in the past and do not expect to pay dividends in the future. Any return on investment may be limited to the value of our common stock.

We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate doing so in the foreseeable future. The payment of dividends on our common stock will depend on earnings, financial condition and other business and economic factors affecting us at such time as our board of directors may consider relevant. If we do not pay dividends, our common stock may be less valuable because a return on your investment will only occur if our common stock price appreciates.

There is currently a limited trading market for our common stock and we cannot ensure that one will ever develop or be sustained.

Although the Company’s common stock is currently quoted on Nasdaq, the TSX, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, there is limited trading activity.  The Company can give no assurance that an active market will develop, or if developed, that it will be sustained.  If an investor acquires shares of the Company’s common stock, the investor may not be able to liquidate the Company’s shares should there be a need or desire to do so. Only a small percentage of our common stock is available to be traded and is held by a small number of holders and the price, if traded, may not reflect our actual or perceived value. There can be no assurance that there will be an active market for our shares of common stock either now or in the future. The market liquidity of our common stock is limited and may be dependent on the market perception of our business, among other things. We may, in the future, take certain steps, including utilizing investor awareness campaigns, press releases, road shows and conferences to increase awareness of our business and any steps that we might take to bring us to the awareness of investors may require we compensate consultants with cash and/or stock. There can be no assurance that there will be any awareness generated or the results of any efforts will result in any impact on our trading volume. Consequently, investors may not be able to liquidate their investment or liquidate it at a price that reflects the value of the business and trading may be at an inflated price relative to the performance of our Company due to, among other things, availability of sellers of our shares. If a market should develop, the price may be highly volatile. Because there may be a low price for our shares of common stock, many brokerage firms or clearing firms may not be willing to effect transactions in the securities or accept our shares for deposit in an account. Even if an investor finds a broker willing to effect a transaction in the shares of our common stock, the combination of brokerage commissions, transfer fees, taxes, if any, and any other selling costs may exceed the selling price. Further, many lending institutions will not permit the use of low priced shares of common stock as collateral for any loans.

Offers or availability for sale of a substantial number of shares of our common stock may cause the price of our common stock to decline.

If our stockholders sell substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market or upon the expiration of any statutory holding period, under Rule 144, or upon the exercise of outstanding options or warrants, it could create a circumstance commonly referred to as an “overhang” in anticipation of which the market price of our common stock could decline. The existence of an overhang, whether or not sales have occurred or are occurring, also could make it more difficult for us to raise additional financing through the sale of equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and price that we deem reasonable or appropriate.

Conversion of preferred stock and exercise of options or warrants may result in substantial dilution to existing stockholders.

Conversions of our Series E Preferred Stock presently owned by our principal shareholders and others and exercise of options and warrants would have a dilutive effect on our common stock. As of March 27, 2017, we have reserved (i) 2,725,092 shares of our common stock that are issuable upon conversion of our Series E Preferred Stock at a conversion rate of one share of Series E Preferred Stock for approximately 304.615 shares of common stock (following an adjustment in the conversion ratio effective February 25, 2016), (ii) 1,794,453 shares of our common stock that are issuable upon exercise of options to purchase our common stock, (iii) 3,282,808 shares of our common stock that are issuable upon exercise of warrants to purchase our common stock, and (iv) 1,030,994 shares of our common stock that are issuable pursuant to restricted stock units upon vesting and/or upon termination of service or in connection with a change of control. Further, any additional financing that we secure is likely to require the sale of additional common stock and the granting of rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of our common stock and will result in additional dilution of the existing ownership interests of our common stockholders.

Our issuance of additional shares of common stock or securities convertible into common stock in exchange for services or to repay debt would dilute the proportionate ownership and voting rights of existing stockholders and could have a negative impact on the market price of our common stock.

Our board of directors may generally issue shares of common stock or securities convertible into common stock to pay for debt or services, without further approval by our stockholders, based upon such factors that our board of directors may deem relevant at that time. We have, in the past, issued securities for debt to reduce our obligations. We have also issued securities as payment for services. It is likely that we will issue additional securities to pay for services and reduce debt in the future. We cannot give you any assurance that we will not issue additional shares of common stock or securities convertible into common stock under circumstances we may deem appropriate at the time.

Our articles of incorporation allow for our board to create new series of preferred stock without further approval by our stockholders, which could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock.

Our board of directors has the authority to fix and determine the relative rights and preferences of preferred stock. Our board of directors also has the authority to issue preferred stock without further stockholder approval. As a result, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that would grant to holders the preferred right to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive dividend payments before dividends are distributed to the holders of our common stock and the right to the redemption of the shares, together with a premium, prior to the redemption of our common stock. In addition, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that has greater voting power than our common stock or that is convertible into our common stock, which could decrease the relative voting power of our common stock or result in dilution to our existing stockholders.

The elimination of monetary liability against our directors, officers and employees under our articles of incorporation and the existence of indemnification rights to our directors, officers and employees may result in substantial expenditures by our Company and may discourage lawsuits against our directors, officers and employees.

Our articles of incorporation contain provisions which eliminate the liability of our directors for monetary damages to our Company and stockholders. Our bylaws also require us to indemnify our officers and directors. We may also have contractual indemnification obligations under our agreements with our directors, officers and employees. The foregoing indemnification obligations could result in our Company incurring substantial expenditures to cover the cost of settlement or damage awards against directors, officers and employees that we may be unable to recoup. These provisions and resultant costs may also discourage our Company from bringing a lawsuit against directors, officers and employees for breaches of their fiduciary duties, and may similarly discourage the filing of derivative litigation by our stockholders against our directors, officers and employees even though such actions, if successful, might otherwise benefit our Company and stockholders.

Anti-takeover provisions may impede the acquisition of our Company.

Certain provisions of the Nevada General Corporation Law have anti-takeover effects and may inhibit a non-negotiated merger or other business combination. These provisions are intended to encourage any person interested in acquiring us to negotiate with, and to obtain the approval of, our board of directors in connection with such a transaction. However, certain of these provisions may discourage a future acquisition of us, including an acquisition in which the stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. As a result, stockholders who might desire to participate in such a transaction may not have the opportunity to do so.