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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021
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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from
to
Commission File No. 001-38387
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) |
Delaware
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(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization) |
4300 Water Canyon Road, Unit 1, Winnemucca, NV
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(Address of Principal Executive Offices) |
82-2657796
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(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.) |
89445
(775) 304-0260
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(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the
Act:
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Title of each class |
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Trading Symbol(s) |
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Name of each exchange on which registered |
Class A common stock, par
value $0.0001 per share
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HYMC |
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The Nasdaq Capital Market
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Warrants to purchase common stock |
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HYMCW |
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The Nasdaq Capital Market
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Warrants to purchase common stock |
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HYMCZ |
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The Nasdaq Capital Market
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Warrants to purchase common stock |
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HYMCL |
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The Nasdaq Capital Market
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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned
issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file
reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the
Act.
Yes
o
No
x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all
reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or
for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file
such reports); and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements
for the past 90
days. Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted
electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted
pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter)
during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to submit such files).
Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large
accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a
smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the
definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,”
“smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule
12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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Large accelerated filer |
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Accelerated filer |
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Non-accelerated filer |
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Smaller reporting company |
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Emerging growth company |
If
an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the
registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period
for complying with any new or revised financial accounting
standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange
Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on
and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness
of its internal control over financial reporting under Section
404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the
registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit
report. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company
(as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act):
Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the registrant's Common Stock held by
non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2021, the last
business day of the registrants most recently completed second
fiscal quarter, was $71,518,397.
As of March 31, 2022, there were 196,803,459 shares of the
Company’s common stock and no shares of the Company’s
preferred stock issued and outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portion of the registrant's Proxy Statement of the 2022 Annual
Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated herein by reference in
Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to the extent stated
herein. Such proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission within 120 days of the registrant's fiscal year
ended December 31, 2021.
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
Annual Report on Form 10-K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Page |
PART |
ITEM |
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I
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1
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1A
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Risk Factors
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1B
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7A
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9
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9A
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9B
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III
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10
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12
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13
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14
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IV
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15
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PART I
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2021 (“2021 Form 10-K”) may constitute
“forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 27A of
the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E
of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
or the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts,
included herein and public statements by our officers or
representatives, that address activities, events or developments
that our management expects or anticipates will or may occur in the
future, are forward-looking statements, including but not limited
to such things as future business strategy, plans and goals,
competitive strengths and expansion and growth of our business. The
words “estimate”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “intend”,
“believe” “target”, “budget”, “may”, “can”, “will”, “would”,
“could”, “should”, “seeks”, or “scheduled to” and similar words or
expressions, or negatives of these terms or other variations of
these terms or comparable language or any discussion of strategy or
intention identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements address activities, events or developments that the
Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future and
are based on current expectations and assumptions. These risks may
include the following and the occurrence of one or more of the
events or circumstances alone or in combination with other events
or circumstances, may have a material adverse effect on the
Company’s business, cash flows, financial condition and results of
operations. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to:
•Risks
related to changes in our operations at the Hycroft Mine
including:
◦Risks
associated with the cessation of pre-commercial scale mining
operations at the Hycroft Mine;
◦Uncertainties
concerning estimates of mineral resources;
◦Risks
related to a lack of a completed feasibility study;
and
◦Risks
related to our ability to re-establish commercially feasible mining
operations.
•Industry
related risks including:
◦Fluctuations
in the price of gold and silver;
◦Uncertainties
related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;
◦The
intense competition within the mining industry;
◦The
commercial success of, and risks related to, our development
activities;
◦Uncertainties
and risks related to our reliance on contractors and
consultants;
◦Availability
and cost of equipment, supplies, energy, or reagents;
◦The
inherently hazardous nature of mining activities, including
environmental risks;
◦Potential
effects on our operations of U.S. federal and state governmental
regulations, including environmental regulation and permitting
requirements;
◦Uncertainties
related to obtaining or retaining approvals and permits from
governmental regulatory authorities;
◦Cost
of compliance with current and future government regulations,
including environmental regulations;
◦Potential
challenges to title in our mineral properties;
◦Our
insurance may not be adequate to cover all risks associated with
our business, or cover the replacement costs of our assets or may
not be available for some risks;
◦Risks
associated with proposed legislation in Nevada that could
significantly increase the costs or taxation of our operations;
and
◦Changes
to the climate and regulations regarding climate
change.
•Business-related
risks including:
◦Risks
related to our ability to raise capital on favorable terms or at
all;
◦The
loss of key personnel or our failure to attract and retain
personnel;
◦Risks
related to our substantial indebtedness, including operating and
financial restrictions under existing indebtedness, cross
acceleration and our ability to generate sufficient cash to service
our indebtedness;
◦The
costs related to our land reclamation requirements;
◦Risks
related to technology systems and security breaches;
◦Any
failure to remediate any possible litigation as a result of a
material weakness in our internal controls over financial
reporting; and
◦Risks
that our principal stockholders will be able to exert significant
influence over matters submitted to stockholders for
approval.
•Risks
related to our common stock and warrants, including:
◦Volatility
in the price of our common stock and warrants;
◦Risks
related to potential dilution as a result of future equity
offerings;
◦Risks
associated with future offerings of senior debt or equity
securities;
◦Risks
related to delisting by Nasdaq;
◦Risks
that warrants may expire worthless and that certain warrants are
being accounted for as a liability;
◦Anti-takeover
provisions could make a third-party acquisition of us difficult;
and
◦Risks
related to limited access to our financial disclosure, as we have
elected to take advantage of the disclosure requirement exemptions
granted to emerging growth companies and smaller reporting
companies.
These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties,
assumptions and other factors which may cause our actual results,
performance or achievements to be materially different from any
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Please see our other reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") for more
information about these and other risks. You are cautioned against
attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. Although
we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those described in
forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause
results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Although
these forward-looking statements were based on assumptions that the
Company believes are reasonable when made, you are cautioned that
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance
and that actual results, performance or achievements may differ
materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking
statements contained in this 2021 Form 10-K. In addition, even if
our results, performance, or achievements are consistent with the
forward-looking statements contained in this 2021 Form 10-K, those
results, performance or achievements may not be indicative of
results, performance or achievements in subsequent periods. Given
these risks and uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking
statements made in this 2021 Form 10-K speak only as of the date of
those statements, and we undertake no obligation to update those
statements or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to
any of those statements to reflect future events or developments.
For information identifying important factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the
forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors
section of this 2021 Form 10-K, and the Summary of Risk Factors
in
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
About the Company
Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation (formerly known as Mudrick
Capital Acquisition Corporation) was incorporated under the laws of
the state of Delaware on August 28, 2017. In this 2021 Form 10-K,
“we”, “us”, “our”, the “Company”, “Hycroft”, and "HYMC" refer to
Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation and its subsidiaries. We are a
U.S.-based gold and silver development company that owns the
Hycroft Mine in the prolific mining region of Northern
Nevada.
Our property, the Hycroft Mine, has historically operated as an
open-pit oxide mining and heap leach processing operation and is
located approximately 54 miles west of Winnemucca, Nevada. Mining
operations at the Hycroft Mine were restarted in 2019 on a
pre-commercial scale and discontinued in November 2021 as a result
of the then current and expected ongoing cost pressures for many of
the reagents and consumables used at the Hycroft Mine and the
timeline for completing our updated technical studies in 2022 for
optimal processing the plan forward. In February 2022, Hycroft,
along with its third-party consultants, completed and filed an
Initial Assessment Technical Report Summary for the Hycroft Mine
(the "2022 Hycroft TRS") with an effective date of February 18,
2022 and prepared in accordance with the SEC Modernization of
Property Disclosures for Mining Registrants as set forth in subpart
1300 of Regulation S-K ("Modernization Rules"). The 2022 Hycroft
TRS provides an Initial Assessment of the mineral resource estimate
utilizing a milling and acid pressure oxidation ("Acid POX")
process for sulfide mineralization and heap leaching process for
oxide and transition mineralization. As a result of the milling and
Acid POX process presented in the 2022 Hycroft TRS, as compared to
the novel two-step oxidation and heap leap process presented in the
Hycroft Technical Report Summary, Heap Leaching Feasibility Study,
prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Modernization
Rules, with an effective date of July 31, 2019 (the “2019 Hycroft
TRS”), and the associated fundamental changes to the assumptions
underlying the 2019 Hycroft TRS also prepared in accordance with
the requirements of the Modernization Rules, the 2022 Hycroft TRS
supersedes and replaces the 2019 Hycroft TRS and the 2019 Hycroft
TRS and information from such 2019 Hycroft TRS should no longer be
relied upon. Our ongoing disclosures and many of management
estimates and judgements will be based on the 2022 Hycroft TRS and
not the 2019 Hycroft TRS. The Company
will continue to build on the work to date and investigate
opportunities identified through progressing the technical and data
analyses leading up to the 2022 Hycroft TRS and will provide an
updated technical report at an appropriate time. During the year
ended December 31, 2021 we sold 56,045 ounces of gold and
397,546 ounces of silver. As of December 31, 2021, the Hycroft
Mine had measured and indicated mineral resources of 9.6 million
ounces of gold and 446.0 million ounces of silver and inferred
mineral resources of 5.0 million ounces of gold and 150.4 million
ounces of silver, which are contained in oxide, transitional, and
sulfide ores.
Our corporate headquarters is located at 4300 Water Canyon Road,
Unit 1 Winnemucca, Nevada 89445, and our telephone number is (775)
304-0260. Our website is www.hycroftmining.com.
Recapitalization Transaction with MUDS
As discussed in
Note 1 - Company Overview
and
Note 3 - Recapitalization Transaction
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, on
May 29, 2020, we, formerly known as Mudrick Capital
Acquisition Corporation (“MUDS”), consummated a business
combination transaction (the “Recapitalization Transaction”) that
resulted in MUDS Acquisition Sub, Inc. (“Acquisition Sub”)
acquiring all of the issued and outstanding equity interests of the
direct subsidiaries of Hycroft Mining Corporation (“Seller”) and
substantially all of the other assets of Seller and assuming
substantially all of the liabilities of Seller. In conjunction with
the Recapitalization Transaction, Seller’s indebtedness existing
prior to the Recapitalization Transaction was either repaid,
exchanged for indebtedness of the Company, exchanged for shares of
common stock or converted into shares of Seller common stock, and
our post-Recapitalization Transaction indebtedness included amounts
drawn under the Credit Agreement among MUDS, MUDS Holdco Inc.,
Allied VGH LLC, Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation, Hycroft
Resources and Development, LLC Sprott Private Resource Lending II
(Collector) Inc., and Sprott Resources Lending Corp. (“Sprott
Credit Agreement”) and the assumption of the newly issued
Subordinated Notes (as such are defined herein).
Segment Information
The Hycroft Mine is our only operating segment and includes the
operations, development, and exploration activities and contains
100% of our revenues and production costs. Corporate and Other
includes corporate general and administrative costs. See
Note 19 - Segment Information
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for
additional information on our segments.
Principal Products, Revenues, and Market Overview
The principal products produced during 2021 and 2020 at the Hycroft
Mine were unrefined gold and silver bars (doré) and gold and silver
laden carbons and slags, both of which are sent to third party
refineries and sold at prevailing spot prices after adjustments for
refining and other associated fees, to financial institutions or
precious metals traders. Doré bars and gold and silver laden
carbons and slags are sent to refineries to produce bullion that
meets the required market standards of 99.95% pure gold and 99.90%
pure silver. Under the terms of our refining agreements, doré bars
and gold and silver laden carbons and slags are refined for a fee,
and our share of the separately recovered refined gold and refined
silver are credited to our account or delivered to our
buyers.
Product Revenues and Customers
In 2021, revenues from gold and silver recovered from our
pre-commercial scale heap leaching operations made up 91% and 9%,
respectively, of our total revenue and, as such, we consider gold
our principal product. In 2021, all of our revenues were derived
from metal sales to two customers; however, we do not believe we
have any dependencies on these customers due to the liquidity of
the metal markets and the availability of other metal buyers and
financial institutions.
Gold and Silver Uses
Gold and silver have two main categories of use: fabrication and
investment. Fabricated gold has a variety of end uses, including
jewelry, electronics, dentistry, industrial and decorative uses,
medals, medallions and coins. Fabricated silver also has a variety
of end uses, including jewelry, mirrors, cameras, electronics,
energy, engines, novelty explosives and coins. Gold and silver
investors buy gold and silver bullion, coins and
jewelry.
Gold and Silver Supply and Demand
The supply of gold consists of a combination of current production
from mining and metal recycling and the draw-down of existing
stocks of gold held by governments, financial institutions,
industrial organizations and private individuals. Based on publicly
available information, gold production from mines increased 2% in
2021 compared with 2020 totaling approximately 3,561 metric tons
(or 114.5 million troy ounces) and represented approximately 76.3%
of the 2021 global gold supply of 4,666
metric tons. According to the World Gold Council, gold demand in
2021 was approximately 4,021 metric tons (or 129.3 million troy
ounces) and totaled approximately $232.6 billion in value. In 2021,
gold demand by sector was comprised of jewelry (54%), investments
including bar and coin and ETFs (26%), central bank purchases
(12%), and technology (8%).
The supply of silver consists of a combination of current
production from mining (approximately 80%) and metal recycling and
other (approximately 20%). Based on publicly available information,
estimated silver production from mines increased approximately 8%
in 2021 compared with 2020 totaling approximately 849 million troy
ounces and represented approximately 80% of the estimated 2021
global silver supply of 1,056 million troy ounces. Estimated silver
demand in 2021 was approximately 1,033 million troy ounces and
totaled approximately $25.9 billion in value. In 2021, silver
demand by sector was comprised of photovoltaics (10%), other
industrial (41%), jewelry (18%), silverware (4%), photography (3%),
and investments (24%).
Gold and Silver Prices
The price of gold and silver is volatile and is affected by many
factors beyond our control, such as the sale or purchase of gold by
central banks and financial institutions, inflation or deflation
and monetary policies, fluctuation in the value of the U.S. dollar
and foreign currencies, global and regional demand, and the
political and economic conditions of major gold and silver
producing countries throughout the world. The following table
presents the annual high, low, and average afternoon fixing prices
for gold over the past three years on the London Bullion Market (in
U.S. dollars per ounce).
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
GOLD PRICES |
|
SILVER PRICES |
Year |
|
High |
|
Low |
|
Average |
|
High |
|
Low |
|
Average |
2019 |
|
$ |
1,546 |
|
|
$ |
1,270 |
|
|
$ |
1,393 |
|
|
$ |
19.31 |
|
|
$ |
14.38 |
|
|
$ |
16.21 |
|
2020 |
|
$ |
2,067 |
|
|
$ |
1,474 |
|
|
$ |
1,770 |
|
|
$ |
28.89 |
|
|
$ |
12.01 |
|
|
$ |
20.55 |
|
2021 |
|
$ |
1,943 |
|
|
$ |
1,684 |
|
|
$ |
1,799 |
|
|
$ |
29.59 |
|
|
$ |
21.53 |
|
|
$ |
25.04 |
|
2022 (through March 29) |
|
$ |
2,039 |
|
|
$ |
1,788 |
|
|
$ |
1,875 |
|
|
$ |
26.17 |
|
|
$ |
22.24 |
|
|
$ |
23.95 |
|
On March 29, 2022, the afternoon fixing price for gold and silver
on the London Bullion Market was $1,937 per ounce and $25.62 per
ounce, respectively.
Competition
The top 10 producers of gold comprise approximately one third of
total worldwide mined gold production. We are a gold and silver
development company with a single property. The Hycroft Mine has
large gold and silver mineral resources included in the 2022
Hycroft TRS. We have not fully developed our operation and we have
not established our long-term production and cost structure. Our
costs are expected to be determined by the location, grade and
nature of our ore body, processing technologies applied to our ore,
and costs including energy, reagents, labor and equipment. The
metals markets are cyclical, and our ability to maintain our
competitive position over the long-term is based on our ability to
develop and cost effectively operate the Hycroft Mine in a safe and
environmentally responsible manner.
We compete with other mining companies in connection with hiring
and retaining qualified employees. There is substantial competition
for qualified employees in the mining industry, some of which is
with companies having substantially greater financial resources
than us and a more stable history. As a result, we may have
difficulty hiring and retaining qualified employees.
Please see
Item 1A. Risk Factors — Industry Related Risks — We face intense
competition in the mining industry,
for additional discussion related to our current and potential
competition.
Employees
At December 31, 2021, we had approximately 102 employees, of
which 95 were employed at the Hycroft Mine. None of our employees
are represented by unions.
COVID-19
We
have implemented health and safety policies for employees,
contractors, and visitors that follow guidelines from the Center
for Disease Control (CDC) and the Mine Safety and Health
Administration (MSHA). During 2021, our operations faced certain
limitations due to COVID-19 related absences, however the impact,
while negative, did not materially and adversely affect our
operations.
Please see
Item 1A. Risk Factors — Industry Related Risks — The COVID-19
pandemic may adversely impact our business, financial condition,
and results of operations
as well as
Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations
for additional discussion related to COVID-19.
Government Regulation of Mining-Related Activities
Government Regulation
Mining operations and exploration activities are subject to various
federal, state and local laws and regulations in the United States,
which govern prospecting, development, mining, production, exports,
taxes, labor standards, occupational health, waste disposal,
protection of the environment, mine safety, hazardous substances
and other matters. We have obtained or have pending applications
for those licenses, permits or other authorizations currently
required to conduct our current mining, exploration and other
programs. We believe that we are in compliance in all material
respects with applicable mining, health, safety and environmental
statutes and the regulations passed thereunder in Nevada and the
United States. Although we are not aware of any current claims,
orders or directions relating to our business with respect to the
foregoing laws and regulations, changes to, or more stringent
application, interpretation, or enforcement of, such laws and
regulations in Nevada, or in jurisdictions where we may operate in
the future, could require additional capital expenditures and
increased operating and/or reclamation costs, which could adversely
impact the profitability levels of our projects.
Environmental Regulation
Our mining projects are subject to various federal and state laws
and regulations governing protection of the environment. These laws
and regulations are continually changing and, in general, are
becoming more restrictive. The federal laws and regulations, among
other things:
•impose
strict, joint and several liability on current and former owners
and operators of sites and on persons who disposed of or arranged
for the disposal of hazardous substances found at such sites (the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act);
•govern
the generation, treatment, storage and disposal of solid waste and
hazardous waste (the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act);
•restrict
the emission of air pollutants from many sources, including mining
and processing activities (the Clean Air Act);
•require
federal agencies to integrate environmental considerations into
their decision-making processes by evaluating the environmental
impacts of their proposed actions, including the issuance of
permits to mining facilities and assessing alternatives to these
actions (the National Environmental Policy Act);
•regulate
the use of federal public lands to prevent undue and unnecessary
degradation of the public lands (the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976);
•restrict
and control the discharge of pollutants and dredged and fill
materials into waters of the United States (the Clean Water Act);
and
•regulate
the drilling of subsurface injection wells (the Safe Drinking Water
Act and the Underground Injection Control Program promulgated
thereunder).
We cannot predict at this time what changes, if any, to federal
laws or regulations may be adopted or imposed by the current
governmental administration. At the state level, mining operations
in Nevada are regulated by the Nevada Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources, Division of Environmental Protection (the
"Division"), which has the authority to implement and enforce many
of the federal regulatory programs described above as well as state
environmental laws and regulations. Compliance with these and other
federal and state laws and regulations could result in delays in
obtaining, or failure to obtain, government permits and approvals,
delays in beginning or expanding operations, limitations on
production levels, incurring additional costs for investigation or
cleanup of hazardous substances, payment of fines, penalties or
remediation costs for non-compliance, and post-mining closure,
reclamation and bonding.
It is our policy to conduct business in a way that safeguards our
employees, public health and the environment. We believe that our
operations are, and will be, conducted in material compliance with
applicable laws and regulations. However, our past and future
activities in the United States may cause us to be subject to
liability under such laws and regulations. For information about
the risks to our business related to environmental regulation, see
the following risk factors in
Item 1A. Risk Factors - Industry Related Risks:
•Our
operations are subject to numerous governmental permits that are
difficult to obtain and we may not be able to obtain or renew all
of the permits we require, or such permits may not be timely
obtained or renewed;
•Changes
in environmental regulations could adversely affect our cost of
operations or result in operations delays;
•Environmental
regulations could require us to make significant expenditures or
expose us to potential liability; and
•Our
exploration and development operations are subject to extensive
environmental regulations, which could result in the incurrence of
additional costs and operational delays.
During 2021 and 2020, there were no known material environmental
incidents or non-compliance with any applicable environmental
regulations on the properties now held by us. We did not incur
material capital expenditures for environmental control facilities
during 2021 and 2020 and do not expect to incur any material
expenditures in 2022 for such environmental control
facilities.
Reclamation
We are required to mitigate long-term environmental impacts by
amending, backfilling, stabilizing, contouring, re-sloping and
re-vegetating various portions of a site after mining and mineral
processing are completed, mitigating potential impacts to surface
water and groundwater resources. These reclamation efforts will be
conducted in accordance with detailed plans, which must be reviewed
and approved by the appropriate regulatory agencies. Our
reclamation obligations at the Hycroft Mine are secured by surface
management surety bonds that meet the financial assurance
requirements of the State of Nevada and the Bureau of Land
Management ("BLM"). Our most recent reclamation cost estimate was
approved by the BLM and the State of Nevada in July 2020. At
December 31, 2021, our surface management surety bonds totaled
$59.3 million, of which $58.3 million secures the financial
assurance requirements for the Hycroft Mine, and $1.0 million
secures the financial assurance requirements for the adjacent water
supply well field and exploration project. Based on the
December 31, 2021 estimate, no material reclamation
expenditures are expected to be incurred until after mining and
mineral processing are completed. If we incur additional long-term
environmental impacts from future mining activities, we will likely
have additional reclamation obligations as well as additional
financial assurance requirements. For our existing obligations, as
well as any future obligations we may incur we may choose to engage
in reclamation activities before mining and mineral processing are
completed, but these expenses are not anticipated to be material to
the overall reclamation obligation. When we perform reclamation
work in the future, the work will be planned to conform to our
mining operations and will be required to be documented when
completed under our governing permits with the government
regulatory agencies. The reclamation obligation would be adjusted
accordingly as allowed under current regulations, and the financial
assurance requirements would be adjusted to account for the
completed reclamation work. If we are required to comply with
material unanticipated financial assurance requirements in the
future, our financial position could be adversely affected, or our
posted financial assurance may be insufficient. For financial
information about our estimated future reclamation costs refer
to
Note 13 - Asset Retirement Obligation
to our Consolidated Financial Statements.
Mine Safety and Health Administration Regulations
Safety and health is a core value which is why we have mandatory
mine safety and health programs that include employee and
contractor training, risk management, workplace inspection,
emergency response, accident investigation and program auditing. We
consider these programs to be essential at all levels to ensure
that our employees, contractors, and visitors only operate in a
safe and healthy workplace.
Our operations and exploration properties are subject to regulation
by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) under
the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (the “Mine Act”).
Pursuant to Section 1503(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), issuers
are required to disclose specified health and safety violations,
orders and citations, related assessments and legal actions, and
mining-related fatalities in periodic reports. MSHA inspects our
mines on a regular basis and issues various citations and orders
when it believes a violation has occurred under the Mine Act. The
number of citations and orders charged against mining operations in
the U.S., and the dollar penalties assessed for such citations,
have generally increased in recent years. The Dodd-Frank Act
requires us to provide a mine safety disclosure, which we have done
in
Part I
-
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
of this 2021 Form 10-K.
Property Interests and Mining Claims
Our development activities are conducted in the State of Nevada.
Mineral interests in Nevada may be owned by the United States, the
State of Nevada, or private parties. Where prospective mineral
properties are held by the United States, mineral rights may be
acquired through the location of unpatented mineral claims upon
unappropriated federal land. Where prospective mineral properties
are owned by the State of Nevada or private parties, some type of
property acquisition agreement is necessary in order for us to
explore or develop such property. Mining claims are subject to the
same risk of defective title that is common to all real property
interests. Additionally, mining claims are self-initiated and
self-maintained and, therefore, possess some unique vulnerabilities
not associated with other types of property interests. It is
impossible to ascertain the validity of unpatented mining claims
solely from an examination of the public real estate records and,
therefore, it can be difficult or impossible to confirm that all of
the requisite steps have been followed for location and maintenance
of a claim. For general information about our mineral properties
and mining claims refer to
Item 2. Properties.
For information about the risks to our business related to our
property interests and mining claims, see the following risk
factors in Item
1A. Risk Factors - Industry Related Risks:
•There
are uncertainties as to title matters in the mining industry. Any
defects in such title could cause us to lose our rights in mineral
properties and jeopardize our business operations; and
•Legislation
has been proposed periodically that could, if enacted,
significantly affect the cost of our operations on our unpatented
mining claims or the amount of Net Proceeds Mineral Tax we pay to
the State of Nevada.
Technical Report Summaries ("TRS") and Qualified
Persons
The scientific and technical information concerning our mineral
projects in this 2021 Form 10-K have been reviewed and approved by
third-party “qualified persons” under the Modernization Rules,
including Ausenco Engineering USA South Inc., Independent Mining
Consultants, Inc, and WestLand Engineering & Environmental
Services, Inc. For a description of the key assumptions, parameters
and methods used to estimate mineral resources included in this
2021 Form 10-K, as well as data verification procedures and a
general discussion of the extent to which the estimates may be
affected by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title,
taxation, sociopolitical, marketing or other relevant factors,
please review the 2022 Hycroft TRS.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should carefully review and consider the following risk factors
and the other information contained in this 2021 Form 10-K.
Investing in our common stock or warrants is speculative and
involves a high degree of risk due to the nature of our business
and the present stage of exploration and advancement of our mineral
properties. We may face additional risks and uncertainties that are
not presently known to us, or that we currently deem immaterial,
which may also impair our business or financial condition. If any
of those risks actually occur, our business, financial condition
and results of operations would suffer. The risks discussed below
also include forward-looking statements, and our actual results may
differ substantially from those discussed in these forward-looking
statements. See also Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements in this 2021 Form 10-K. The following discussion should
be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial
statements and notes to the consolidated financial statements
included in the Company’s most recent filings with the
SEC.
Summary of Risk Factors:
The following list provides a summary our risk factors discussed in
further detail below:
Risks related to changes in our operations at the Hycroft Mine,
including:
•Risks
associated with cessation of mining operations at the Hycroft
Mine;
•Uncertainties
concerning estimates of mineral resources;
•Risks
relating to a lack of a completed pre-feasibility or feasibility
study; and
•Risks
related to our ability to re-establish commercially feasible mining
operations.
Industry-related risks including:
•Fluctuations
in the prices of gold and silver;
•Uncertainties
relating to the COVID-19 pandemic;
•The
intense competition in the recruitment and retention of qualified
employees within the mining industry;
•The
commercial success of, and risks relating to, our development
activities;
•Uncertainties
and risks related to our reliance on contractors and
consultants;
•Availability
and cost of equipment, supplies, energy, or
commodities;
•The
inherently hazardous nature of mining activities, including
environmental risks;
•Potential
effects of U.S. federal and state governmental regulations,
including environmental regulation and permitting
requirements;
•Uncertainties
relating to obtaining or retaining approvals and permits from
governmental regulatory authorities;
•Cost
of compliance with current and future government regulations,
including environmental regulations;
•Potential
challenges to title in our mineral properties;
•Our
insurance may not be adequate to cover all risks associated with
our business;
•Risks
associated with proposed legislation could significantly increase
the cost of mine development on our unpatented mining
claims;
•Risks
associated with regulations and pending legislation governing
issues involving climate change could result in increased costs,
which could have a material adverse effect on our business;
and
•Changes
to the climate and regulations regarding climate
change.
Business-related risks including:
•Risks
related to our ability to raise capital on favorable terms or at
all;
•The
loss of key personnel or our failure to attract and retain
personnel;
•Risks
related to our substantial indebtedness, including operating and
financial restrictions under existing indebtedness, cross
acceleration and our ability to generate sufficient cash to service
our indebtedness;
•Risks
related to having sufficient liquidity to service our indebtedness
without a material cash flow;
•The
costs related to our land reclamation requirements;
•Risks
related to technology systems and security breaches;
•Possible
litigation as a result of a failure to remediate a material
weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting;
and
•Risks
that our principal stockholders will be able to exert significant
influence over matters submitted to stockholders for
approval.
Risks related to our common stock and warrants,
including:
•Volatility
in the price of our common stock and warrants;
•Risks
relating to a potential dilution as a result of future equity
offerings;
•Risks
relating to a short "squeeze" resulting in sudden increases in
demand for our common stock;
•Risks
relating to information published by third parties about the
Company that may not be reliable or accurate;
•Risks
associated with changes in interest rates;
•Volatility
in the price of our common stock could subject us to securities
litigation;
•Risks
associated with our current plan not to pay dividends;
•Risks
associated with future offerings of senior debt or equity
securities;
•Risks
related to delisting by Nasdaq;
•Risks
warrants may expire worthless and that certain warrants are being
accounted for as a liability;
•Anti–takeover
provisions could make a third-party acquisition of us difficult;
and
•Risks
related to limited access to our financial information, as we have
elected to take advantage of the disclosure requirement exemptions
granted to emerging growth companies and smaller reporting
companies.
Risks Related to Changes in Hycroft Mine Operations
We have mineral resources at the Hycroft Mine but they may not be
brought into production.
We are not currently conducting commercial mining operations at the
Hycroft Mine. There is no certainty that the mineral resources
estimated at the Hycroft Mine will be mined or, if mined, processed
profitably. We have no specific plans and cannot currently predict
when we will be able to bring the Hycroft Mine back into
production. The commercial viability of the Hycroft Mine is
dependent on a number of factors, including metal prices, the
availability of and ability to raise capital for development,
government policy and regulation and environmental protection,
which are beyond our control. We may not generate commercial-scale
revenues until we bring the Hycroft Mine back into
production.
The figures for our mineral resources are estimates based on
interpretation
and assumptions and the properties may yield less mineral
production or less profit under actual conditions than is currently
estimated.
Unless otherwise indicated, mineral resource figures in our filings
with the SEC, press releases and other public statements that may
be made from time to time are based upon estimates made by our
personnel and independent geologists. These estimates are imprecise
and depend upon geologic interpretation and statistical inferences
drawn from drilling and sampling analysis, which may prove to be
inaccurate. There can be no assurance that mineral resource or
other mineralization figures will be accurate or that this
mineralization could be mined or processed profitably.
Because we have not completed a feasibility study or recommenced
commercial production at the Hycroft Mine, mineral resource
estimates for our properties may require adjustments or downward
revisions based upon further exploration or advancement work or
actual production experience. In addition, the grade of ore
ultimately mined, if any, may differ from that indicated by
drilling results. There can be no assurance that recovery of
minerals in small-scale tests will be duplicated in large-scale
tests under on-site conditions or in production scale.
Until mineral resources are mined and processed, the quantity of
ore and grades must be considered as an estimate only. In addition,
the quantity of mineral resources may vary depending on metal
prices, which largely determine whether mineral
resources are classified as ore (economic to mine) or waste
(uneconomic to mine). Current mineral resource estimates were
calculated using sales prices of $1,800 per ounce of gold price and
$23.00 per ounce of silver. A material decline in the current price
of gold or silver or material changes in our processing methods or
cost assumptions could require a reduction in our mineral resource
estimates. Any material reductions in estimates of mineral
resources, or of our ability to upgrade these mineral resources to
mineral reserves and extract these mineral resources, could have a
material adverse effect on the our prospects and could restrict our
ability to successfully implement our strategies for long-term
growth. In addition, we can provide no assurance that gold and
silver recoveries experienced in small-scale laboratory tests will
be duplicated in larger scale tests under on-site conditions or
during production.
We have not completed a feasibility study for the proposed
processing method for the Hycroft Mine and actual capital costs,
operating costs, production and economic returns may differ
significantly from those the Company has anticipated. There are no
assurances future advancement activities by the Company, if any,
will lead to a favorable feasibility study or profitable mining
operations.
We have completed and issued the 2022 Hycroft TRS with an effective
date of February 18, 2022 which was prepared in accordance with the
Modernization Rules and which replaced the prior 2019 Hycroft TRS,
prepared in accordance with the Modernization Rules. The 2022
Hycroft TRS is an Initial Assessment and is not a feasibility study
for the Hycroft Mine. Typically a company will not make a
production decision until it has completed a feasibility study.
Feasibility studies derive estimates of cash operating costs based
upon, among other things:
•anticipated
tonnage, grades and metallurgical characteristics of the mineral
reserves to be mined and processed;
•anticipated
recovery rates of gold and other metals from the mineral
reserves;
•cash
operating costs of comparable facilities and equipment;
and
•anticipated
climatic conditions and environmental protection
measures.
Completing a feasibility study of the Hycroft Mine will require
significant additional work and study in order to reduce the range
of uncertainty associated with the study’s estimates and
conclusions. Cash operating costs, production and economic returns,
and other estimates contained in studies or estimates prepared by
or for us may differ significantly from those anticipated by us and
estimated costs as they are developed if too high may result in
further delays or cancellation of advancement at the Hycroft
Mine.
There is no certainty that a feasibility study for the Hycroft Mine
will be completed or, if completed, that it will result in
sufficiently favorable estimates of the economic viability of the
Hycroft Mine to justify a construction decision.
We may not be able to successfully re-establish mining operations
or profitably produce precious metals.
We currently have no ongoing commercial mining operations or
sustaining revenue from the care and maintenance processing
operations currently conducted at the Hycroft Mine. Mineral
exploration and advancement involves a high degree of risk and few
properties that are explored are ultimately developed into
producing mines. The future advancement of the Hycroft Mine will
require obtaining permits and financing and the construction and
operation of the mine, processing plants and related
infrastructure. Our ability to establish mining operations or
profitably produce precious metals from the Hycroft Mine will be
affected by:
•timing
and cost, which can be considerable, of the construction of
additional mining and processing facilities;
•availability
and costs of skilled labor and mining equipment;
•availability
and cost of appropriate smelting and/or refining
arrangements;
•need
to obtain necessary additional environmental and other governmental
approvals and permits, and the timing of those approvals and
permits;
•availability
of funds to finance equipment purchases, construction and
advancement activities;
•management
of an increased workforce and co-ordination of
contractors;
•potential
opposition from non-governmental organizations, environmental
groups, or local groups which may delay or prevent advancement
activities; and
•potential
increases in construction and operating costs due to changes in the
cost of fuel, power, labor, materials and supplies and foreign
exchange rates.
It is common in new mining operations to experience unexpected
problems and delays during advancement, construction, start-up
commissioning, and transition to commercial operations. In
addition, delays in the commencement of mineral production often
occur. Accordingly, there are no assurances that, if we decide to
initiate construction or mining activities, that we will be able to
successfully establish mining operations or profitably produce gold
and silver at the Hycroft Mine.
Industry-Related Risks
The market prices of gold and silver are volatile. A decline in
gold and silver prices could result in decreased revenues,
decreased net income, increased losses and decreased cash inflows
which may negatively affect our business.
Gold and silver are commodities. Their prices fluctuate and are
affected by many factors beyond our control, including interest
rates, expectations regarding inflation, speculation, currency
values, central bank activities, governmental decisions regarding
the disposal of precious metals stockpiles, global and regional
demand and production, political and economic conditions and other
factors. The prices of gold and silver, as quoted by The London
Bullion Market Association on March 25, 2022, December 31,
2021 and December 31, 2020, were $1,954, $1,820 and $1,891 per
ounce for gold, respectively, and $25.62, $23.09 and $26.49 per
ounce for silver, respectively. The prices of gold and silver may
decline in the future. A substantial or extended decline in gold or
silver prices would adversely impact our financial position,
revenues, net income and cash flows, particularly in light of our
current strategy of not engaging in hedging transactions with
respect to gold or silver. In addition, sustained lower gold or
silver prices may adversely affect our business,
including:
•halt,
delay, modify, or cancel plans for the mining of oxide,
transitional, and sulfide ores or the development of new and
existing projects;
•reduce
existing mineral resources by removing ores from mineral resources
that can no longer be economically processed at prevailing prices;
and
•cause
us to recognize an impairment to the carrying values of long-lived
assets.
The COVID-19 pandemic may adversely impact our business and
financial condition.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused, and is expected to continue to
cause, disruptions in regional economies and the world economy and
financial and commodity markets in general. The transmission of
COVID-19 and efforts to contain its spread have resulted in
international, national and local border closings, travel
restrictions, significant disruptions to business operations,
supply chains and customer activity and demand, service
cancellations, workforce reductions and other changes, significant
challenges in healthcare service provision and delivery, mandated
closures and quarantines, as well as considerable general concern
and uncertainty, all of which have negatively affected the economic
environment and may in the future have further and larger impacts.
The full extent of the impact of the pandemic on the economy and
commodity prices, including gold and silver prices, is not known at
this time and it is not known what measures will be implemented by
governmental authorities in the future and how long these measures,
or the measures currently in effect, will be in place. The COVID-19
global pandemic and efforts to reduce its spread have led to a
significant decline of economic activity and significant disruption
and volatility in global markets. Additionally, COVID-19 has
disrupted the capital markets world-wide and commodity prices,
including gold prices, and we may be unable to complete future
capital raising transactions if continued concerns relating to
COVID-19 cause further significant market disruptions. We cannot at
this time predict the duration of the coronavirus pandemic or the
impact of government regulations that might be imposed in response
of the pandemic; however, the coronavirus pandemic may have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial position,
results of operations and cash flows.
We face intense competition in the recruitment and retention of
qualified employees.
The mining industry is intensely competitive for employees and
includes several large established mining companies with
substantial mining capabilities and with greater financial and
technical resources than ours. We compete with other mining
companies in the recruitment and retention of qualified managerial
and technical employees. If we are unable to successfully attract
and retain qualified employees, our development programs and/or our
operations may be slowed down or suspended, which may adversely
impact our development, financial condition and results of
operations.
We cannot be certain that our future development activities will be
commercially successful.
Substantial expenditures are required to construct and operate the
Hycroft Mine including additional equipment and infrastructure such
as is typically seen in a milling and Acid POX plant to allow for
extraction of gold and silver from the sulfide mineral resource, to
further develop our Hycroft Mine to establish mineral reserves and
identify new mineral resources through drilling and analysis. In
2022, we expect to continue to advance the Acid POX evaluation
reflected in the Initial
Assessment in the 2022 Hycroft TRS. In conjunction with that
Initial Assessment, we intend to focus much of our technical
efforts for 2022 on, among other things, (1) completing
metallurgical testing including bench top autoclave tests and
review the results thereof; (2) reviewing historical drilling data
in the drillhole database to identify areas of potential
underestimated silver and improve where applicable through
rerunning available pulps; (3) follow-up on higher grades
encountered during the 2021 drill program to improve overall grade
of mineral resources; (4) assessing the potential to convert
material currently considered waste and upgrade inferred material
to a higher resource classification in the designed pits through a
drill program and initiate said program. We cannot provide any
assurance that an economic process can be developed for the sulfide
mineral resource using Acid POX or other similar sulfide extraction
processes, that any mineral resources discovered will be in
sufficient quantities and grades to justify commercial operations
or that the funds required for development can be obtained on a
timely or economic basis.
A number of factors, including costs, actual mineralization,
consistency and reliability of ore grades and commodity and reagent
quantities and prices affect successful project development. The
efficient operation of processing facilities, the existence of
competent operational management, as well as the availability and
reliability of appropriately skilled and experienced consultants
also can affect successful project development. We can provide no
assurance that the development and advancement of the Hycroft Mine
sulfide processing operations will result in economically viable
mining operations.
Our reliance on third-party contractors and consultants to conduct
our exploration and development projects exposes us to
risks.
In connection with the exploration and development of the Hycroft
Mine, we contract and engage third party
contractors and consultants to assist with aspects of such
projects. As a result, we are subject to a number of risks, some of
which are outside our control, including:
•negotiating
agreements with contractors and consultants on acceptable
terms;
•the
inability to replace a contractor or consultant and their operating
equipment in the event that either party terminates the
agreement;
•reduced
control over those aspects of exploration or development operations
which are the responsibility of the contractor or
consultant;
•failure
of a contractor or consultant to perform under their agreement or
disputes relative to their performance;
•interruption
of exploration or development operations or increased costs in the
event that a contractor or consultant ceases their business due to
insolvency or other unforeseen events;
•failure
of a contractor or consultant to comply with applicable legal and
regulatory requirements, to the extent they are responsible for
such compliance; and
•problems
of a contractor or consultant with managing their workforce, labor
unrest or other employment issues.
In addition, we may incur liability to third parties as a result of
the actions of our contractors or consultants. The occurrence of
one or more of these risks could increase our costs, interrupt or
delay our exploration or development activities or our ability to
access our ores, and adversely affect our liquidity, results of
operations and financial position.
A shortage of equipment and supplies and/or the time it takes such
items to arrive at our Hycroft Mine could adversely affect our
ability to operate our business.
We are dependent on various supplies and equipment to engage in
exploration and development activities. The shortage of such
supplies, equipment and parts and/or the time it takes such items
to arrive at our Hycroft Mine could have a material adverse effect
on our ability to explore and develop the Hycroft Mine. Such
shortages could also result in increased costs and cause delays in
exploration and development projects.
Mining development and processing operations pose inherent risks
and costs that may negatively impact our business.
Mining development and processing operations involve many hazards
and uncertainties, including, among others:
•metallurgical
or other processing problems;
•ground
or slope failures;
•industrial
accidents;
•unusual
and unexpected rock formations or water conditions;
•environmental
contamination or leakage;
•flooding
and periodic interruptions due to inclement or hazardous weather
conditions or other acts of nature;
•fires;
•seismic
activity;
•pandemics
adversely affecting the availability of workforces and
supplies;
•mechanical
equipment failure and facility performance problems;
and
•availability
of skilled labor, critical materials, equipment, reagents, and
consumable items.
These occurrences could result in damage to, or destruction of, our
properties or production facilities, personal injury or death,
environmental damage, delays in future mining or processing,
increased future production costs, asset write downs, monetary
losses and legal liability, any of which could have a material
adverse effect on our future development plans and ability to raise
additional capital.
Environmental regulations could require us to make significant
expenditures or expose us to potential liability.
To the extent we become subject to environmental liabilities, the
payment of such liabilities or the costs that we may incur,
including costs to remedy environmental pollution, would reduce
funds otherwise available to us and could have a material adverse
effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and
liquidity. If we are unable to fully remedy an environmental
violation or release of hazardous substances, we might be required
to suspend operations or enter into interim compliance measures
pending completion of the required remedy or corrective action. The
environmental standards that may ultimately be imposed at a mine
site can vary and may impact the cost of remediation. Actual
remedial costs may exceed the financial accruals that have been
made for such remediation. Additionally, the timing of the remedial
costs may be materially different from the current remediation
plan. The potential exposure may be significant and could have an
adverse effect on our financial condition and results of
operations.
Moreover, governmental authorities and private parties may bring
lawsuits based upon damage to property or natural resources and
injury to persons resulting from the environmental, health and
safety impacts of our past and current operations, which could lead
to the imposition of substantial fines, remediation costs,
penalties, injunctive relief and other civil and criminal
sanctions. Substantial costs and liabilities, including those
required to restore the environment after the closure of mines, are
inherent in our operations. We cannot provide any assurance that
any such law, regulation, enforcement or private claim will not
have a negative effect on our business, financial condition or
results of operations.
We are subject to numerous governmental permits that are difficult
to obtain and we may not be able to obtain or renew all of the
permits we require, or such permits may not be timely obtained or
renewed.
In the ordinary course of business we are required to obtain and
renew governmental permits for our current limited operations at
the Hycroft Mine. We will also need additional governmental permits
to accomplish our long-term plans to mine sulfide ores under plans
yet to be developed. Obtaining or renewing the necessary
governmental permits is a complex and time-consuming process
involving costly undertakings by us. The duration and success of
our efforts to obtain and renew permits are contingent upon many
variables not within our control, including the interpretation of
applicable requirements implemented by the permitting authority and
intervention by third parties in any required environmental review.
We may not be able to obtain or renew permits that are necessary on
a timely basis or at all, and the cost to obtain or renew permits
may exceed our estimates. Failure to comply with the terms of our
permits may result in injunctions, fines, suspension or revocation
of permits and other penalties. We can provide no assurance that we
have been, or will at all times be, in full compliance with all of
the terms of our permits or that we have all required permits. The
costs and delays associated with compliance with these permits and
with the permitting process could alter all or a portion of any
mine plan we may propose in the future, delay or stop us from
proceeding with the development of the Hycroft Mine or increase the
costs of development or production, any or all of which may
materially adversely affect our business, prospects, results of
operations, financial condition and liquidity.
Failure to comply with environmental regulations could result in
penalties and costs.
While the Hycroft Mine is not conducting active mining operations,
our facilities and prior operations have been and are, and our
future development plans may continue to be, subject to extensive
federal and state environmental regulation, including those enacted
under the following laws:
•Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act;
•Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act;
•Clean
Air Act;
•National
Environmental Policy Act;
•Clean
Water Act;
•Safe
Drinking Water Act;
•Federal
Land Policy and Land Management Act of 1976; and
•Bald
and Golden Eagle Protection Act;
Additional regulatory authorities may also have or have had
jurisdiction over some of our operations and mining projects
including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nevada Division
of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
BLM, and the Nevada Department of Wildlife.
These environmental regulations require us to obtain various
permits, approvals and licenses and also impose standards and
controls relating to development and production activities. For
instance, we are required to hold a Nevada Reclamation Permit with
respect to the Hycroft Mine. This permit mandates concurrent and
post-mining reclamation of mines and requires the posting of
reclamation bonds sufficient to guarantee the cost of mine
reclamation. Changes to the amount required to be posted for
reclamation bonds could materially affect our financial position,
results of operations, cash flows and liquidity. Also, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service may designate critical habitat and
suitable habitat areas it believes are necessary for survival of a
threatened or endangered species. A critical habitat or suitable
habitat designation could result in further material restrictions
to land use and may materially delay or prohibit land access for
our development. For example, we had to obtain certain permits
associated with mining in the area of an eagle habitat. Failure to
obtain such required permits or failure to comply with federal and
state regulations could also result in delays in beginning or
expanding exploration, future operations, incurring additional
costs for investigation or cleanup of hazardous substances, payment
of penalties for non-compliance or discharge of pollutants, and
post-mining closure, reclamation and bonding, all of which could
have a material adverse impact on our financial performance,
results of operations and liquidity.
Compliance with current and future government regulations may cause
us to incur significant costs.
Mining operations are subject to extensive federal and state
legislation governing matters such as mine safety, occupational
health, labor standards, prospecting, exploration, production,
exports, toxic and hazardous substances, explosives, management of
natural resources, land use, water use, air emissions, waste
disposal, environmental review and taxes. While we have ceased
operations at the Hycroft Mine, continued compliance with these
regulations and other legislation relating to our obligations with
respect to the Hycroft Mine and its future development could
require us to make significant financial outlays to comply with
these laws. The enactment of new legislation or more stringent
enforcement of current legislation may also increase these costs,
which could have a negative effect on our financial position,
results of operations, and liquidity. We cannot provide any
assurances that we will be able to adapt to these regulatory
developments on a timely or cost-effective basis. Violations of
these laws, regulations and other regulatory requirements could
lead to substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions, including
possible shutdown of future operations, as applicable.
There are uncertainties as to title matters in the mining industry.
Any defects in such title could cause us to lose our rights in
mineral properties and jeopardize our business.
Our mineral properties consist of private mineral rights, leases
covering private lands, leases of patented mining claims and
unpatented mining claims. Areas of the Hycroft Mine are unpatented
mining claims located on lands administered by the BLM Nevada State
office to which we have only possessory title. Because title to
unpatented mining claims is subject to inherent uncertainties, it
is difficult to determine conclusively ownership of such claims.
These uncertainties relate to such things as sufficiency of mineral
discovery, proper location and posting and marking of boundaries,
and possible conflicts with other claims not determinable from
descriptions of record. We believe a substantial portion of all
mineral exploration, development and mining in the United States
now occurs on unpatented mining claims, and this uncertainty is
inherent in the mining industry.
The present status of our unpatented mining claims located on
public lands allows us the right to mine and remove valuable
minerals, such as precious and base metals, from the claims
conditioned upon applicable environmental reviews and permitting
programs. We also are generally allowed to use the surface of the
land solely for purposes related to mining and processing the
mineral-bearing ores. However, legal ownership of the land remains
with the United States. We remain at risk that the mining claims
may be forfeited either to the United States or to rival private
claimants due to failure to comply with statutory requirements.
Prior to 1994, a mining claim locator who was able to prove the
discovery of valuable, locatable minerals on a mining claim, and to
meet all other applicable federal and state requirements and
procedures pertaining to the location and
maintenance of federal unpatented mining claims, had the right to
prosecute a patent application to secure fee title to the mining
claim from the Federal government. The right to pursue a patent,
however, has been subject to a moratorium since October 1994,
through federal legislation restricting the BLM from accepting any
new mineral patent applications. If we do not obtain fee title to
our unpatented mining claims, we can provide no assurance that we
will be able to obtain compensation in connection with the
forfeiture of such claims.
There may be challenges to title to the mineral properties in which
we hold a material interest. If there are title defects with
respect to any properties, we might be required to compensate other
persons or perhaps reduce our interest in the affected property.
Also, in any such case, the investigation and resolution of title
issues would divert our management’s time from ongoing business
operations.
Our insurance may not cover all of the risks associated with our
business.
The mining business is subject to risks and hazards, including, but
not limited to, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, the
encountering of unusual or unexpected geological formations,
slide-ins, flooding, earthquakes and periodic interruptions due to
inclement or hazardous weather conditions. These occurrences could
result in damage to, or destruction of, mineral properties,
equipment or facilities, personal injury or death, environmental
damage, asset write-downs, monetary losses and possible legal
liability. Insurance fully covering many of these risks is not
generally available to us and if it is, we may elect not to obtain
it because of the high premium costs or commercial impracticality.
Any liabilities incurred for these risks and hazards could be
significant and could materially and adversely affect our results
of operations, cash flows and financial condition.
Legislation has been proposed periodically that could, if enacted,
significantly affect the cost of mine development on our unpatented
mining claims.
Members of the U.S. Congress have periodically introduced bills
which would supplant or alter the provisions of the Mining Law of
1872. Such bills have proposed, among other things, to either
eliminate or greatly limit the right to a mineral patent and to
impose a federal royalty on production from unpatented mining
claims. Such proposed legislation could change the cost of holding
unpatented mining claims and could significantly impact our ability
to develop mineralized material on unpatented mining claims. A
majority of our mining claims are unpatented claims. Although we
cannot predict what legislated royalties might be, the enactment of
these proposed bills could adversely affect the potential for
development of our unpatented mining claims and the economics of
any future mine operations on federal unpatented mining claims.
Passage of such legislation could adversely affect our financial
performance and results of operations.
Regulations and pending legislation governing issues involving
climate change could result in increased operating costs, which
could have a material adverse effect on our business.
A number of governments or governmental bodies have introduced or
are contemplating regulatory changes in response to various climate
change interest groups and the potential impact of climate change.
Legislation and increased regulation regarding climate change could
materially increase our costs, and the costs of our suppliers, for
further exploration and development of the Hycroft Mine, including
costs related to increased energy requirements, capital equipment,
environmental monitoring and reporting and other costs to comply
with such regulations. Any adopted future climate change
regulations could also negatively impact our ability to compete
with companies situated in areas not subject to such regulations.
Given the emotion, political significance and uncertainty around
the impact of climate change and how it should be dealt with, we
cannot predict how legislation and regulation will affect our
financial condition, operating performance and ability to compete.
Furthermore, even without such regulation, increased awareness and
any adverse publicity in the global marketplace about potential
impacts on climate change by us or other companies in our industry
could harm our reputation.
Climate change could have an adverse impact on our cost of
operations.
The potential physical impacts of climate change on our development
activities or future operations are highly uncertain and would be
particular to the area in which we operate. These climate changes
may include changes in rainfall and storm patterns and intensities,
water shortages and changing temperatures. These changes in climate
could adversely affect our mining operations, including by
affecting the moisture levels and pH of ore on our leach pads,
could materially and adversely affect the cost to construct and
operate the Hycroft Mine and materially and adversely affect the
financial performance of our operations.
Business-Related Risks
We will need to raise additional capital, but such capital may not
be available on favorable terms or at all.
The exploration and development of our Hycroft Mine for mining and
processing our mineral resources will require significant
investment. Failure to obtain sufficient financing may result in
the delay or indefinite postponement of exploration, development or
production at the Hycroft Mine. The covenants in the Sprott Credit
Agreement could significantly limit our ability to secure new or
additional credit facilities, increase our cost of borrowing, and
make it difficult or impossible to raise additional capital on
favorable terms or at all.
Our primary future cash requirements for 2022 will be to fund
working capital needs, capital and project expenditures, satisfying
debt service required under the Sprott Credit Agreement, and other
corporate expenses so that we can continue to develop the Hycroft
Mine by conducting targeted exploration and completing the
necessary technical studies to determine the likely timeline to
bring the sulfide mineral resources into commercial scale
operation. As of December 31, 2021 we had cash of
$12.3 million and we have since raised approximately $194.4
million in gross proceeds from a private placement of our equity
securities and from an "at-the-market" public equity offering of
our common stock. You are cautioned that management’s expectations
regarding our liquidity and capital resources are based on a number
of assumptions that we believe are reasonable but could prove to be
incorrect. For example, our expectations are based on assumptions
regarding commodity prices, gold and silver recovery percentages
and rates, production estimates, anticipated costs and other
factors that are subject to a number of risks, many of which are
beyond our control. If our assumptions prove to be incorrect, we
may require additional financing sooner than we expect to continue
to operate our business, which may not be available on favorable
terms or at all and which could have a material adverse effect on
our results of operations, financial condition and
liquidity.
If we lose key personnel or are unable to attract and retain
additional personnel, we may be unable to develop our
business.
Our development in the future will be highly dependent on the
efforts of key management employees, specifically, Diane Garrett,
our President and Chief Executive Officer, Stanton Rideout, our
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and other key
employees that we may hire in the future. We will need to recruit
and retain other qualified managerial and technical employees to
build and maintain our operations. If we are unable to successfully
recruit and retain such persons, our development and growth could
be significantly curtailed.
The Sprott Credit Agreement imposes significant operating and
financial restrictions that may limit our ability to operate our
business.
The Sprott Credit Agreement imposes significant operating and
financial restrictions on us and our restricted subsidiaries. These
restrictions limit our ability and the ability of our restricted
subsidiaries to, among other things, as applicable:
•incur
additional debt;
•pay
dividends or make other restricted payments, including certain
investments;
•create
or permit certain liens;
•sell
assets;
•engage
in certain transactions with affiliates; and
•consolidate
or merge with or into other companies, or transfer all or
substantially all of our assets or the assets of our restricted
subsidiaries.
These restrictions could limit our ability to finance our future
operations or capital needs, make acquisitions or pursue available
business opportunities.
In addition, the Sprott Credit Agreement requires us to comply with
a number of customary covenants, including:
•covenants
related to the delivery of monthly, quarterly and annual
consolidated financial statements, budgets and annual
projections;
•maintaining
required insurance;
•compliance
with laws (including environmental);
•compliance
with ERISA;
•maintenance
of ownership of 100% of Hycroft Mine;
•restrictions
on consolidations, mergers or sales of assets;
•limitations
on liens;
•limitations
on issuance of certain equity interests;
•limitations
on issuance of additional indebtedness;
•limitations
on transactions with affiliates; and
•other
customary covenants.
We have received several waivers to date from covenant obligations
under the Sprott Credit Agreement. We cannot assure you that we
will satisfy these covenants or that our lenders will continue to
waive any future failure to do so. A breach of any of the covenants
under the Sprott Credit Agreement could result in a default.
See
Note 10 - Debt, Net
and
Note 25 - Subsequent Events
to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.
If a default occurs under the Sprott Credit Agreement and/or the
Royalty Agreement among the Company, our wholly owned subsidiary
Hycroft Resources and Development, LLC and Sprott Private Resource
Lending II (CO) Inc., (the “Sprott Royalty Agreement”), the lenders
could elect to declare the debt, together with accrued interest and
other fees, to be immediately due and payable and proceed against
the collateral securing that debt, which, in the case of the Sprott
Credit Agreement and the Sprott Royalty Agreement, constitutes all
or substantially all of our assets.
Our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our financial
condition.
As of December 31, 2021, we had substantial outstanding
indebtedness under the Sprott Credit Agreement and the Subordinated
Notes. Subject to the limits and terms contained in the Sprott
Credit Agreement, if we are able to incur additional debt or grant
additional security interests from time to time to finance working
capital, capital expenditures, investments or acquisitions, or for
other purposes, then the risks related to our high level of debt
could intensify. Our high level of debt and royalty payment
obligations could:
•make
it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to
our outstanding debt;
•require
a substantial portion of our cash flows to be dedicated to debt
service and/or royalty payments instead of other purposes, thereby
reducing the amount of cash flows available for working capital,
capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate
purposes;
•limit
our ability to obtain additional financing to fund future working
capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general
corporate requirements;
•increase
our vulnerability to commodity price volatility, including
increases in prices of commodities that we purchase and decreases
in prices of gold and silver that we sell, each as part of our
operations, general adverse economic and industry
conditions;
•limit
our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in the
industry in which we compete;
•place
us at a disadvantage compared to other, less leveraged competitors;
and
•increase
our cost of borrowing.
Any of the above-listed factors could have an adverse effect on our
business, financial condition and results of operations and our
ability to meet our payment obligations under our debt, and the
price of our common stock. The Sprott Credit Agreement contains
restrictive covenants that limit our ability to engage in
activities that may be in our long-term best interest. Our failure
to comply with those covenants could result in an event of default
which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of
nearly all of our debt.
If we default on our obligations to pay any of our indebtedness or
otherwise default under the agreements governing our indebtedness,
lenders could accelerate such debt and we may be subject to
restrictions on the payment of our other debt obligations or cause
a cross-acceleration.
Any default under the agreements governing our indebtedness that is
not waived by the required lenders or holders of such indebtedness,
and the remedies sought by the holders of such indebtedness, could
prevent us from paying principal, premium, if any, and interest on
other debt instruments. If we are unable to generate sufficient
cash flow or are otherwise unable to obtain funds necessary to meet
required payments of principal, premium, if any, and interest on
our indebtedness and royalty payment obligations, or if we
otherwise fail to comply with the various covenants in any
agreement governing our indebtedness, we
would be in default under the terms of the agreements governing
such indebtedness and other indebtedness under the cross- default
and cross-acceleration provisions of such agreements. In the event
of such default:
•the
lenders or holders of such indebtedness could elect to terminate
any commitments thereunder, declare all the funds borrowed
thereunder to be due and payable and, if not promptly paid, in the
case of our secured debt, institute foreclosure proceedings against
our assets; and
•even
if these lenders or holders do not declare a default, they may be
able to cause all of our available cash to be used to repay
indebtedness owed to them.
As a result of such default and any actions the lenders may take in
response thereto, we could be forced into bankruptcy or
liquidation.
We may not have sufficient cash or we may not be able to generate
sufficient cash to service our outstanding indebtedness and may be
forced to take other actions to satisfy our obligations under our
indebtedness, which may not be successful.
Our ability to make scheduled payments on our debt and royalty
obligations or refinance our debt obligations (if necessary)
depends on our financial condition, which is subject to prevailing
economic and competitive conditions and to certain financial,
business, legislative, regulatory and other factors beyond our
control, including the market prices of gold and silver. We may be
unable to maintain a level of cash flow sufficient to permit us to
pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our
indebtedness and our royalty obligations.
If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund
our debt service obligations and our royalty obligations, we could
face substantial liquidity problems and could be forced to reduce
or delay investments and capital expenditures or to dispose of
material assets, seek additional debt or equity capital or
restructure or refinance our indebtedness. We may not be able to
effect any such alternative measures, if necessary, on commercially
reasonable terms or at all and, even if successful, those
alternative actions may not allow us to meet our scheduled debt
service obligations. The Sprott Credit Agreement restricts our
ability to dispose of assets and use the proceeds from those
dispositions and may also restrict our ability to raise debt to be
used to repay other indebtedness when it becomes due. We may not be
able to consummate those dispositions or to obtain proceeds in an
amount sufficient to meet any debt service and royalty payment
obligations then due.
Our inability to generate sufficient cash flows to satisfy our debt
and royalty obligations, or to refinance our indebtedness on
commercially reasonable terms or at all, would materially and
adversely affect our financial position and results of operations
and our ability to satisfy our obligations.
If we cannot make scheduled payments on our debt, we will be in
default and the lenders under the Sprott Credit Agreement and the
Sprott Royalty Agreement could foreclose against the assets
securing their borrowings and we could be forced into bankruptcy or
liquidation.
Land reclamation requirements for the Hycroft Mine may be
burdensome and expensive and include requirements that we provide
financial assurance supporting those requirements.
Land reclamation requirements are generally imposed on companies
with mining operations in order to minimize long-term effects of
land disturbance. Reclamation may include requirements to control
dispersion of potentially deleterious effluents, treat ground and
surface water to drinking water standards, and reasonably
re-establish pre-disturbance landforms and vegetation.
In order to carry out reclamation obligations imposed on us in
connection with our activities, we must allocate financial
resources that might otherwise be spent on further development
programs. We have established a provision for our reclamation
obligations on the Hycroft Mine property, as appropriate, but this
provision may not be adequate. If we are required to carry out
unanticipated reclamation work, our financial position could be
adversely affected.
We are also required by U.S. federal and state laws and regulations
to provide financial assurance sufficient to allow a third party to
implement approved reclamation plans for the Hycroft Mine if we are
unable to do so. Third party financial assurances may not be
available to us or we may elect not to obtain it because of the
high costs, associated collateral requirements may be too expensive
or it may be commercially impractical which could adversely affect
our financial position.
We are dependent upon information technology systems that are
subject to disruption, damage, failure and risks associated with
implementation and integration.
We are dependent upon information technology systems in the conduct
of our operations. Our information technology systems are subject
to disruption, damage or failure from a variety of sources,
including, without limitation, computer viruses, security breaches,
cyber-attacks, natural disasters and defects in design.
Cybersecurity incidents, in particular, are evolving and include,
but are not limited to, malicious software, attempts to gain
unauthorized access to data and other electronic security breaches
that could lead to disruptions in systems, extortion to prevent or
the unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected
information and the corruption of data. Given the unpredictability
of the timing, nature and scope of information technology
disruptions, we could potentially be subject to operational
downtimes, operational delays, extortion, the compromising of
confidential or otherwise protected information, destruction or
corruption of data, security breaches, other manipulation or
improper use of our systems and networks or financial losses from
remedial actions, any of which could have a material adverse effect
on our cash flows, financial condition or results of
operations.
We could also be adversely affected by system or network
disruptions if new or upgraded information technology systems are
defective, not installed properly or not properly integrated into
our operations. System modification failures could have a material
adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of
operations and could, if not successfully implemented, adversely
impact the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial
reporting.
We identified a material weakness in our internal control over
financial reporting and determined that our disclosure controls and
procedures were ineffective which, if not remediated, may result in
material misstatements of our consolidated financial statements or
cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting
obligations.
In connection with the restatement of our consolidated financial
statements on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2020,
management concluded there was a material weakness in our internal
control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a
deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control
over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable
possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim
consolidated financial statements would not be prevented or
detected on a timely basis.
Management identified a material weakness in our controls over the
accounting for the 5-Year Private Warrants issued in connection
with the initial public offering of MUDS and recorded to our
consolidated financial statements as a result of the
Recapitalization Transaction that was consummated on May 29, 2020.
Our controls to evaluate the accounting for complex financial
instruments, such as for warrants issued by MUDS, did not operate
effectively to appropriately apply the provisions of ASC 815-40.
This material weakness resulted in a material error in our
accounting for the 5-Year Private Warrants recorded as part of the
Recapitalization Transaction and a restatement of our previously
issued consolidated financial statements as more fully described
in
Note 25 - Restatement of Previously Issued Audited Financial
Statements
to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in our
Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2020.
As a result, Management concluded that, as of December 31, 2020,
our internal control over financial reporting and our disclosure
controls and procedures were not effective.
To remediate the material weakness in our internal control over
financial reporting, management implemented additional review
procedures, and additional training and enhancements to the
accounting policy related to the accounting for equity and
liability instruments (including those with warrants) to determine
proper accounting in accordance with GAAP.
Although our remediation plan has been implemented and completed as
of the filing date of this 2021 Form 10-K, the material weakness
cannot be considered remediated until the controls operate for a
sufficient period and management has concluded, through testing,
that our internal controls are operating effectively. While
management believes that the remedial efforts will resolve the
identified material weakness, there is no assurance that
management’s remedial efforts conducted to date will be sufficient
or that additional remedial actions will not be necessary. In
addition, there can be no assurance that additional material
weaknesses will not be identified in the future. If we are
unsuccessful in remediating our existing or any future material
weaknesses or other deficiencies in our internal control over
financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures,
investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and the
accuracy and timing of our financial reporting and disclosures and
our business, reputation, results of operations, liquidity,
financial condition, ability to access the capital markets,
perceptions of our creditworthiness, and stock price could be
adversely affected. In addition, we may be unable to maintain or
regain compliance with applicable securities laws or stock market
listing requirements.
In addition, there can be no assurance that additional material
weaknesses will not be identified in the future. If we are
unsuccessful in remediating our existing or any future material
weaknesses or other deficiencies in our internal control over
financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures,
investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and the
accuracy and timing of our financial reporting and disclosures and
our business, reputation, results of operations,
liquidity,
financial condition, ability to access the capital markets,
perceptions of our creditworthiness, and stock price could be
adversely affected. In addition, we may be unable to maintain or
regain compliance with applicable securities laws or stock market
listing requirements.
The three largest stockholders of the Company are able to exert
significant influence over matters submitted to stockholders for
approval, which could delay or prevent a change in corporate
control or result in the entrenchment of management or the Board of
Directors, possibly conflicting with the interests of our other
stockholders.
As of March 31, 2022, Mudrick Capital Management LP, (“Mudrick
Capital”), 2176423 Ontario Limited, an entity affiliated with Eric
Sprott (“Eric Sprott”) and American Multi-Cinema, Inc. (“AMC”)
owned approximately 12.4%, 11.9% and 11.9% of our outstanding
voting securities, respectively, and have the right to acquire
13,308,529, 23,408,240 and 23,408,240 additional shares of common
stock, respectively, upon the exercise of warrants held by them.
Because of their significant stockholdings, each of Mudrick
Capital, Eric Sprott and AMC could exert significant influence in
determining the outcome of corporate actions requiring stockholder
approval and otherwise influence our business. This influence could
have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of
the Company or entrenching management or the Board of Directors,
which could conflict with the interests of other stockholders and,
consequently, could adversely affect the market price of our common
stock.
Risks related to our Common Stock and Warrants
The market prices and trading volume of shares of our common stock
have recently experienced, and may continue to experience, extreme
volatility, which could cause purchasers of our common stock to
incur substantial losses.
The market prices and trading volume of shares of our common stock
have recently experienced, and may continue to experience, extreme
volatility, which could cause purchasers of our common stock to
incur substantial losses. For example, during 2022 to March 29,
2022, the market price of our common stock has fluctuated from an
intra-day low of $0.284 per share on March 2, 2022 to an intra-day
high of $3.10 on March 29, 2022, and the last recorded sales price
of our common stock on Nasdaq on March 29, 2022, was $2.59 per
share.
•During
2022 to March 29, 2022, daily trading volume ranged from
approximately 78,900 to 385,302,700 shares. Within the month, the
market price of our common stock has fluctuated from an intra-day
low of $0.288 on March 3, 2022 to an intra-day high of $3.10 on
March 29, 2022.
•We
believe that the recent volatility and our current market prices
may reflect market and trading dynamics unrelated to our underlying
business, or macro or industry fundamentals, and we do not know how
long these dynamics will last. Under the circumstances, we caution
you against investing in our common stock, unless you are prepared
to incur the risk of losing all or a substantial portion of your
investment.
•Extreme
fluctuations in the market price of our common stock have been
accompanied by reports of strong and atypical retail investor
interest, including on social media and online forums. The market
volatility and trading patterns we have experienced create several
risks for investors, including the following:
◦the
market price of our common stock has experienced and may continue
to experience rapid and substantial increase or decreases unrelated
to our financial performance or prospects, or macro or industry
fundamentals, and substantial increases may be significantly
inconsistent with the risks and uncertainties that we continue to
face;
◦factors
in the public trading market for our common stock include the
sentiment of retail investors (including as may be expressed on
financial trading and other social media sites and online forums),
the direct access by retail investors to broadly available trading
platforms, the amount and status of short interest in our
securities, access to margin debt, trading in options and other
derivatives on our common stock and any related hedging and other
trading factors;
◦our
market capitalization, as implied by various trading prices,
currently reflects valuations that diverge significantly from those
seen prior to recent volatility, and to the extent these valuations
reflect trading dynamics unrelated to our financial performance or
prospects, purchasers of our common stock could incur substantial
losses if there are declines in market prices driven by a return to
earlier valuations; and
◦to
the extent volatility in our common stock is caused, as has widely
been reported, by a “short squeeze” in which coordinated trading
activity causes a spike in the market price of our common stock as
traders with a short position make market purchases to avoid or to
mitigate potential losses, investors purchase at inflated prices
unrelated to our financial performance or prospects, and may
thereafter suffer substantial losses as prices decline once the
level of short-covering purchases has abated.
The market price of our shares of common stock and publicly-traded
warrants may fluctuate widely.
The trading price of our common stock and warrants listed for
trading may fluctuate substantially and may be lower than their
current prices. The market prices and trading volume of shares of
our common stock have recently experienced, and may continue to
experience, extreme volatility, which could cause purchasers of our
common stock to incur substantial losses. We may continue to incur
rapid and substantial increases or decreases in our stock price in
the foreseeable future that may not coincide in timing with the
disclosure of news or developments by or affecting us. Accordingly,
the market price of shares of our common stock may fluctuate
dramatically, and may decline rapidly, regardless of any
developments in our business. Overall, there are various factors,
many of which are beyond our control, that could negatively affect
the market price of our common stock or result in fluctuations in
the price or trading volume of our common stock,
including:
•publication
of research reports by analysts or others about us or the precious
metals market, which may be unfavorable, inaccurate, inconsistent
or not disseminated on a regular basis;
•changes
in market interest rates that may cause purchasers of shares of our
common stock to demand a different yield;
•changes
in market valuations of similar companies;
•market
reaction to any additional equity, debt or other securities that we
may issue in the future, and which may or may not dilute the
holdings of our existing stockholders;
•actual
or anticipated variations in our annual or quarterly results of
operations;
•additions
or departures of key personnel or Board of Directors
members;
•actions
by institutional or significant stockholders;
•short
interest in our stock and the market response to such short
interest;
•the
dramatic increase in the number of individual holders of our stock
and their participation in social media platforms targeted at
speculative investing;
•speculation
in the press or investment community about our company or
industry;
•strategic
actions by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions or other
investments;
•the
ongoing impacts and developments relating to the COVID-19
pandemic;
•legislative,
administrative, regulatory or other actions affecting our business,
our industry;
•investigations,
proceedings, or litigation that involve or affect us;
•general
market, economic and political conditions, such reductions in
precious metals prices, increases in fuel and other commodity
prices used in the operation of our business, currency fluctuations
and acts of war or terrorism.
In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the
overall market and the market prices of particular companies’
securities, securities class action litigations have often been
instituted against these companies. Litigation of this type, if
instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a
diversion of our management’s attention and resources. Any adverse
determination in any such litigation or any amounts paid to settle
any such actual or threatened litigation could require that we make
significant payments.
You may experience dilution as a result of future equity
offerings.
On March 14, 2022, we entered into definitive agreements to issue
46,816,480 Units in a private placement, with each Unit consisting
of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value
$0.0001 per share and one warrant to purchase a share of Common
Stock. In addition, we conducted an “at-the-market” registered
public offering in which we sold 89,553,602 additional shares of
our common stock. The private placement and the "at-the-market'
registered public offering substantially increased the number of
our issued and outstanding shares of common stock.
In the future, we may issue additional shares of our common stock
to raise cash to bolster our liquidity, to pay indebtedness, for
working capital, to finance strategic initiatives and future
acquisitions or for other purposes. We may also issue securities
convertible into, or exchangeable for, or that represent the right
to receive, shares of our common stock. We may also acquire
interests in other companies or other assets by
using a combination of cash and shares of our common stock or just
shares of our common stock. We may sell shares or other securities
in any other offering at a price per share that is less than the
prices per share paid by investors, and investors purchasing shares
or other securities in the future could have rights superior to
existing stockholders. The price per share at which we sell
additional shares of our common stock, or securities convertible
into, exercisable or exchangeable for shares of our common stock,
in future transactions may be higher or lower than the prices per
share paid by investors. Additional equity offerings may dilute the
holdings of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of
our common stock, or both. Any of these events may dilute the
ownership interests of current stockholders, reduce our earnings
per share or have an adverse effect on the price of shares of our
common stock. Further, sales of substantial amounts of our common
stock, or the perception that these sales could occur, could have a
material adverse effect on the price of our common
stock.
A “short squeeze” due to a sudden increase in demand for shares of
our common stock that largely exceeds supply and/or focused
investor trading in anticipation of a potential short squeeze have
led to, may be currently leading to, and could again lead to,
extreme price volatility in shares of our common
stock.
Investors may purchase shares of our common stock to hedge existing
exposure or to speculate on the price of our common stock.
Speculation on the price of our common stock may involve long and
short exposures. To the extent aggregate short exposure exceeds the
number of shares of our common stock available for purchase on the
open market, investors with short exposure may have to pay a
premium to repurchase shares of our common stock for delivery to
lenders of our common stock. Those repurchases may, in turn,
dramatically increase the price of shares of our common stock until
additional shares of our common stock are available for trading or
borrowing. This is often referred to as a “short squeeze.” With the
recent substantial increase in volume of our shares being traded
and trading price, the proportion of our common stock that may be
traded in the future by short sellers may increase the likelihood
that our common stock will be the target of a short squeeze, and
there is wide spread speculation that our current trading price is
the result of a short squeeze. A short squeeze and/or focused
investor trading in anticipation of a short squeeze have led to,
may be currently leading to, and could again lead to volatile price
movements in shares of our common stock that may be unrelated or
disproportionate to our financial performance or prospects and,
once investors purchase the shares of our common stock necessary to
cover their short positions, or if investors no longer believe a
short squeeze is viable, the price of our common stock may rapidly
decline. Investors that purchase shares of our common stock during
a short squeeze may lose a significant portion of their investment.
Under the circumstances, we caution you against investing in our
common stock, unless you are prepared to incur the risk of losing
all or a substantial portion of your investment.
Information available in public media that is published by third
parties, including blogs, articles, online forums, message boards
and social and other media may include statements not attributable
to the Company and may not be reliable or accurate.
We have received, and may continue to receive, a high degree of
media coverage that is published or otherwise disseminated by third
parties, including blogs, articles, online forums, message boards
and social and other media. This includes coverage that is not
attributable to statements made by our directors, officers or
employees. You should read carefully, evaluate and rely only on the
information contained in documents filed with the SEC in
determining whether to purchase shares of our common stock.
Information provided by third parties may not be reliable or
accurate and could materially impact the trading price of our
common stock which could cause losses to your
investments.
Increases in market interest rates may cause potential investors to
seek higher returns and therefore reduce demand for our common
stock, which could result in a decline in our stock
price.
One of the factors that may influence the price of our common stock
is the return on our common stock (i.e., the amount of
distributions as a percentage of the price of our common stock)
relative to market interest rates. An increase in market interest
rates, which are currently at low levels relative to historical
rates, may lead prospective purchasers of our common stock to
expect a return, which we may be unable or choose not to provide.
Further, higher interest rates would likely increase our borrowing
costs and potentially decrease the cash available. Thus, higher
market interest rates could cause the market price of our common
stock to decline.
Volatility in the price of our common stock may subject us to
securities litigation.
As discussed above, the market for our common stock has been
characterized recently 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 do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock in the
foreseeable future.
We currently plan to invest all available funds and future cash
flows, if any, in the development and growth of our business. We
have never paid dividends on our common stock and currently have no
plans to do so. Our debt agreements contain provisions that
restrict our ability to pay dividends. As a result, a rise in the
market price of our common stock, which is uncertain and
unpredictable, will be your sole source of potential gain in the
foreseeable future and you should not rely on an investment in our
common stock for dividend income.
Future offerings of debt, which would be senior to our common stock
upon liquidation, and/or preferred equity securities, which may be
senior to our common stock for purposes of distributions or upon
liquidation, could adversely affect the market price of our common
stock.
In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by
making additional offerings of debt or preferred equity securities,
including convertible or non-convertible senior or subordinated
notes, convertible or non-convertible preferred stock, medium-term
notes and trust preferred securities. Upon liquidation, holders of
our debt securities and shares of preferred stock and lenders with
respect to other borrowings will receive distributions of our
available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. In
addition, any preferred stock we may issue could have a preference
on liquidating distributions or a preference on distribution
payments that could limit our ability to make a distribution to the
holders of our common stock. Since our decision to issue securities
in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other
factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the
amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our
stockholders bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the
market price of our common stock.
We may receive a delisting notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market and
our common stock and warrants could be delisted from trading unless
our common stock price trades above $1.00 per share.
On December 29, 2021, we received a written notice from the Listing
Qualifications department of The Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”)
indicating that we were not in compliance with the $1.00 minimum
bid price requirement set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2)
(the "Listing Rule) for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital
Market. On March 24, 2022, Nasdaq informed us that we had resolved
our deficiency and regained compliance with this rule. We can
provide no assurance that the trading price of our common stock
will not fall below $1.00 per share for a period of 30 consecutive
trading days and that we will not receive another notice that we
were not in compliance with the $1.00 minimum bid price requirement
set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) for continued listing
on the Nasdaq Capital Market or that we will be able to regain
compliance with the minimum bid price requirement, even if we
maintain compliance with the other listing
requirements.
There is no guarantee that our outstanding public warrants will
ever be in the money, and they may expire
worthless.
We have 34,289,898 publicly traded warrants outstanding that
entitle holders to purchase one share of our common stock at an
exercise price of $11.50 per share for a period of five years from
the Recapitalization Transaction. On October 6, 2020, we issued
9,583,334 units in an underwritten public offering at an offering
price to of $9.00 per unit, with each unit consisting of one share
of our common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of our
common stock at an exercise price of $10.50 per share.
Additionally, we assumed the obligations and liabilities under that
certain warrant agreement, dated as of October 22, 2015, by and
between Seller and Computershare Inc., a Delaware corporation, and
its wholly owned subsidiary Computershare Trust Company, N.A., a
federally chartered trust company, collectively as initial warrant
agent; and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC was
named as the successor warrant agent (the “Seller Warrant
Agreement”). Pursuant to the assumption of the Seller Warrant
Agreement, the warrants issued thereunder (the “Seller Warrants”)
became exercisable into shares of our common stock. The Seller
Warrants will expire by the terms on October 22, 2022. As of March
14, 2022, the exercise price for the Seller Warrants was $40.31 per
share of our common stock.
There is no guarantee that any or all of the public warrants will
ever be in the money prior to their expiration, and as such, the
warrants may expire worthless.
Our 5-Year Private Warrants are being accounted for as a warrant
liability and are being recorded at fair value upon issuance with
changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which could
increase the volatility in our net income (loss) and may have an
adverse effect on the market price of our common
stock.
In addition to other securities, warrants to purchase shares of the
Company’s common stock were issued in a private placement to the
SPAC sponsor and underwriter (the “5 Year Private Warrants”) in the
aggregate amount of 7,740,000 shares of our common stock at an
exercise price of $11.50 per share on May 29, 2020, and
concurrently with the closing of the
Recapitalization Transaction, as part of a forward purchase unit
offering, the Company issued an additional 2,500,000 5-Year Private
Warrants to the SPAC sponsor at an exercise price of $11.50 per
share.
We have determined that the 5-Year Private Warrants are a liability
that is marked-to-market with the non-cash fair value adjustments
recorded in earnings at each reporting period. Changes in the
trading price of our common stock and the fair value of the 5-Year
Private Warrants could result in significant volatility in our
warrant liability and our net income (loss) in our
Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Anti-takeover provisions contained in our charter and bylaws, as
well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover
attempt.
Our charter contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited
takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their
best interests. We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions
under Delaware law, which could
delay
or prevent a change of control. Together, these provisions may make
it more difficult to remove management and may discourage
transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over
prevailing market prices for our securities. These provisions
include:
•no
cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the
ability of minority stockholders to elect director
candidates;
•the
right of our Board of Directors to appoint a director to fill a
vacancy created by the expansion of the Board of Directors or the
resignation, death or removal of a director in certain
circumstances, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill
vacancies our Board of Directors;
•a
prohibition on stockholders calling a special meeting and the
requirement that a meeting of stockholders may only be called by
members our Board of Directors, which may delay the ability of our
stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take
action, including the removal of directors;
•the
ability of our Board of Directors to determine whether to issue
shares of preferred stock and to determine the price and other
terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights,
without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly
dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer;
•limiting
the liability of, and providing indemnification to, the directors
and officers; and
•advance
notice procedures that stockholders must comply with in order to
nominate candidates to our Board of Directors or to propose matters
to be acted upon at a meeting of stockholders, which may discourage
or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of
proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise
attempting to obtain control of the Company.
We are an “emerging growth company” and a “smaller reporting
company,” and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to us
as such may make our common stock less attractive to our
stockholders.
We qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section
2(a)(19) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our
Business Startups Act of 2012, which we refer to as the “JOBS Act.”
As such, we have elected to take advantage of certain exemptions
from various reporting requirements applicable to other public
companies that are not emerging growth companies for as long as we
continue to be an emerging growth company, including (i) the
exemption from the auditor attestation requirements with respect to
internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) the exemptions from say-on-pay,
say-on-frequency and say-on-golden parachute voting requirements
and (iii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive
compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements. As a
result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information
they deem important. We will remain an emerging growth company
until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a)
following
February
12, 2023, the fifth anniversary of the IPO, (b) in which we have
total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion or (c) in
which we are deemed to be a large accelerated
filer, which means the market value of our common stock that are
held
by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day
of the Company’s prior second fiscal quarter, and (ii) the date on
which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt
during the prior three-year period.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an
emerging growth company can take advantage of the exemption from
complying with new or revised accounting standards provided in
Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act as long as
we
qualify as an emerging growth company. An emerging growth company
can therefore delay the adoption of certain accounting standards
until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies.
The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the
extended transition period and comply with the requirements that
apply to non-emerging growth companies, but any such election to
opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such
extended transition period, which means that when a standard is
issued or revised and it has different application dates for public
or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt
the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the
new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our
consolidated financial statements with another public company which
is neither an
emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has
opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or
impossible because of the potential differences in accounting
standards used.
We are also a “smaller reporting company”, and we will remain a
smaller reporting company until the fiscal year following the
determination that our voting and non-voting common stock held by
non-affiliates is $250 million or more measured on the last
business day of our second fiscal quarter, or our annual revenues
are $100 million or more during the most recently completed fiscal
year and our voting and non-voting common stock held by
non-affiliates is $700 million or more measured on the last
business day of our second fiscal quarter. Similar to
emerging
growth companies, smaller reporting companies are able to provide
simplified executive compensation disclosure and have certain other
reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things,
being required to provide only two years of audited financial
statements. Our stockholders may find our common stock less
attractive as a result of our status as an “emerging growth
company” and “smaller reporting company” and our reliance on the
reduced disclosure requirements afforded to these
companies.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our sole property is the Hycroft Mine. The Hycroft Mine is an
existing gold and silver operation located 54 miles west of
Winnemucca in Humboldt County and Pershing County, Nevada, as shown
in the map below. The Hycroft Mine is accessible via Nevada State
Route 49 (Jungo Road), an all-weather, unpaved road that is
maintained by Humboldt County and Hycroft. A major east–west
railway runs immediately adjacent to the property.
The Hycroft Mine straddles Townships 34, 35, 35½ and 36 North and
Ranges 28, 29 and 30 East (MDB&M) with an approximate latitude
40°52’ north and longitude 118°41’ west. The mine is situated on
the western flank of the Kamma Mountains on the eastern edge of the
Black Rock Desert.
The Hycroft Mine consists of 30 private parcels with patented
claims that comprise approximately 1,912 acres, and 3,247
unpatented mining claims that encompass approximately 68,759 acres.
The combined patented and unpatented claims comprise approximately
70,671 acres. The mining claims are comprised of two primary
properties, Crofoot and Lewis. The Crofoot and Lewis properties
together include approximately 11,829 acres. The Crofoot property
covers approximately 3,500 acres and is virtually surrounded by the
8,400 acres of the Lewis property.
Existing facilities on-site include two administration buildings, a
mobile maintenance shop, a light vehicle maintenance shop, a
warehouse, three (3) Heap Leach Pads – Crofoot, North, and
Brimstone, primary, secondary and tertiary crushing systems, two
Merrill-Crowe process plants and a refinery. It is considered that
existing components of the mine property would be utilized for
future development. The Hycroft Mine operates under permit
authorizations from the BLM, Nevada Department Environmental
Protection ("NDEP"), Nevada Department Of Wildlife ("NDOW"), Nevada
Department of Water Resources ("NDWR") and County
agencies.
Hycroft Technical Report Summary
In February 2022, the Company, along with its third-party
consultants, completed and filed the 2022 Hycroft TRS prepared in
accordance with the Modernization Rules. The 2022 Hycroft TRS
provides an Initial Assessment of the mineral resource estimate
utilizing a milling and Acid POX process for sulfide mineralization
and heap leaching process for oxide and transition mineralization.
As a result of the milling and Acid POX process presented in the
2022 Hycroft TRS, as compared to the novel two-step oxidation and
heap leach process in the 2019 Hycroft TRS prepared in accordance
with the requirements of the Modernization Rules, and the
associated fundamental changes to the assumptions underlying the
2019 Hycroft TRS, the 2022 Hycroft TRS supersedes and replaces the
2019 Hycroft TRS and the 2019 Hycroft TRS and information from such
2019 Hycroft TRS should no longer be relied upon. In addition,
please see the sections entitled “Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors
Regarding Mineral Resources”, “Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements”, and “Risk Factors” when reviewing the
information set forth in this Section.
The information that follows relating to the Hycroft Mine is
derived, for the most part, from, and in some instances is an
extract from, the Initial Assessment 2022 Hycroft TRS. Portions of
the following information are based on assumptions, qualifications
and procedures that are not fully described herein. Reference
should be made to the full text of the 2022 Hycroft TRS,
incorporated herein by reference as Exhibit 96.1 to this 2021 Form
10-K and made a part hereof.
The Company, together with its consultants, has continued to
advance work on the mill Acid POX process through 2021 to treat the
Hycroft sulfide mineral resource. The mill and Acid POX process
remains the focus of ongoing work, as it generates higher gold and
silver recoveries than the sulfide heap oxidation and leach
process, which will be foundational in optimizing the economics of
the deposit. Recoveries become a critical factor when mining begins
in the higher-grade silver Vortex deposit. Acid POX recoveries will
be further verified with ore-specific variability testing. As the
work progressed, the Company also identified several opportunities
that may yield significant additional economic benefits to the
project.
Upon furnishing the 2022 Hycroft TRS, the Hycroft Mine had measured
and indicated mineral resources of 9.6 million ounces of gold and
446.0 million ounces of silver and inferred mineral resources of
5.0 million ounces of gold and 150.4 million ounces of silver,
which are contained in oxide, transitional, and sulfide ores. The
Hycroft Mine does not have comparable mineral reserves and mineral
resources to provide for the prior year or periods due to changes
in its intended mining process and the fact that such information
would have been under the 2019 Hycroft TRS that has been superseded
and replaced by the 2022 Hycroft TRS. As a result, any meaningful
comparison of year-end mineral resources and mineral reserves is
not possible.
Overview and Highlights
The 2022 Hycroft TRS summarizes the results of an Initial
Assessment and supports the disclosure of mineral resources at the
Hycroft Mine utilizing a milling and acid POX process for sulfide
mineralization and heap leaching process for oxide and transition
mineralization. The work has been prepared at the request of the
Company and completed by third-party consultants including Ausenco
Engineering USA South Inc. (“Ausenco”), Independent Mining
Consultants, Inc. (“IMC”), and WestLand Engineering &
Environmental Services, Inc. (“Westland”). Employees of IMC and
Ausenco who have worked on and approved this mineral resource
estimate are Qualified Persons as defined under the Modernization
Rules.
After evaluating the information obtained, and carefully
considering the numerous and significant opportunities developed
during the assessment process that warrant follow-up analysis and
work, coupled with the highly inflationary environment for
equipment and cost inputs, the Company filed the 2022 Hycroft TRS
as an Initial Assessment. The 2022 Hycroft TRS supersedes all
previous technical studies. As a result of the milling and Acid POX
process presented in the 2022 Hycroft TRS, as compared to the novel
two-step oxidation and heap leap process in the 2019 Hycroft TRS,
and the associated fundamental changes to the assumptions
underlying the 2019 Hycroft TRS, our ongoing disclosures will be
based on the 2022 Hycroft TRS and not the 2019 Hycroft TRS. The
Company will continue to build on the work to date and investigate
opportunities identified through progressing the technical and data
analyses leading up to the Initial Assessment and will provide an
updated technical report at an appropriate time.
The mineral resource is based on information provided by the
Company which has been checked and validated wherever possible by
IMC. The calculations and interpretations presented here are the
work of IMC, who takes responsibility for the published mineral
resource.
Hycroft Mine
For a detailed discussion of the Hycroft Mine’s operating and
production data, see
Part II - Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations - Hycroft
Mine.
The Hycroft Mine and related facilities are located approximately
54 miles west of Winnemucca, Nevada. Winnemucca, a city with a
population of approximately 8,431 (2020 Census data), is a
commercial community on Interstate 80, 164 miles northeast of Reno.
The mine property straddles Townships 34, 35, 351∕2 and 36 North
and Ranges 28, 29 and 30 East (MDB&M) with an approximate
latitude 40°52’ north and longitude 118°41’ west.
The following shows the location of our properties.
Additionally, the following map shows the current property and
facilities layout.

The town is served by a transcontinental railroad and has a
municipal airport. Access to the Hycroft Mine from Winnemucca is by
Jungo Road, formerly designated as State Route 49, a good-quality,
unpaved road, and a short access road to the main entrance of the
mine. Well-maintained mine and exploration roads provide access
throughout the property. Access is also possible from Imlay,
Gerlach and Lovelock by unpaved roads intersecting Interstate 80
and Nevada State Route 447. The majority of our employees live in
the Winnemucca area. The site receives electrical power provided by
NV Energy from the northwestern Nevada power grid. Initial surveys
indicate that the town of Winnemucca has the required
infrastructure (shopping, emergency services, schools, etc.) to
support the maximum workforce and dependents. The Hycroft Mine
currently has water rights which we believe is adequate to support
potential future operations. The mine is situated on the eastern
edge of the Black Rock Desert and on the western flank of the Kamma
Mountains between Winnemucca and Gerlach, Nevada. There are no
streams, rivers or major lakes in the general area. Elevations in
the mine area range between 4,500 and 5,500 feet above sea
level.
The climate of the region is arid, with precipitation averaging 7.7
inches per year. Average temperatures during the summer range from
50°F to 90°F and average winter temperatures range from 20°F to
40°F.
The Hycroft Mine property consists of 30 private parcels with
patented claims that comprise 1,912 acres, and 3,247 unpatented
mining claims that encompass 68,759 acres. Combining the patented
and unpatented claims, total claims cover approximately 70,671
acres. The Hycroft Mine patented claims occupy private lands and
our unpatented claims occupy public lands, administered by the BLM.
These claims are governed by the laws and regulations of the U.S.
federal government and the State of Nevada. To maintain the
patented claims in good standing, we must pay the annual property
tax payments to the county in which the claims are held. To
maintain the unpatented claims in good standing, we must file a
notice of intent to maintain the claims within the county and pay
the annual mineral claim filing fees to the BLM. Such filing fees
amounted to $0.6 million in 2021. As long as we file the annual
notice and pay the claim filing fees, there is no expiration date
for our unpatented claims.
A portion of the Hycroft Mine is subject to a mining lease
requiring us to pay 4% net profit royalty to the owner of certain
patented and unpatented mining claims, subject to a maximum of $7.6
million, of which $3.0 million has been satisfied and $4.6 million
remained outstanding as of December 31, 2021. There is no
expiration date on the net profit royalty.
The Hycroft Mine is also subject to the Sprott Royalty Agreement
and that requires us to pay a perpetual royalty equal to 1.5% of
the Net Smelter Returns, as such term is defined in such agreement,
from our Hycroft Mine. There is no expiration and no limit on the
amount that can be paid on the Sprott Royalty
Agreement.
The Hycroft Mine was formerly known as the Crofoot-Lewis open pit
mine, which was a small heap leaching operation that commenced in
1983. Vista Gold Corp., a corporation incorporated under the laws
of the Yukon Territory (“Vista”), acquired the Crofoot-Lewis claims
and mine in 1987 and 1988. During this first operating period the
mine produced over 1.0 million ounces of gold and 2.5 million
ounces of silver. The mine production continued until it was placed
on a care and maintenance program in December 1998 due to low gold
prices. Hycroft Mining Corporation (“HMC”) acquired the Hycroft
Mine in 2007 pursuant to an arrangement agreement where Vista
transferred its Nevada mining properties to HMC’s predecessor. HMC
restarted the Hycroft Mine in 2008 and suspended mining operations
on July 8, 2015. During 2016, HMC was actively processing and
producing gold from the ore within the heap leach pads. On January
1, 2017, Hycroft Mining Corporation (“HMC” or “Seller”) went into a
care and maintenance mode when it stopped adding lime to the leach
pads and continued to operate in a care and maintenance mode
throughout 2017 and 2018. Prior to restarting operations,
production of gold and silver was a byproduct of HMC’s maintenance
activities on the Hycroft Mine. In December 2018 HMC began restart
activities, including the rehabilitation of the crushing facility
and construction of a new leach pad, with active mining operations
beginning in the second quarter of 2019 with six haul trucks, two
hydraulic shovels and one wheel loader. Initial gold and silver
production occurred in August 2019 and continued until Hycroft
ceased active mining operations in November 2021.
On site facilities include an administration building, mobile
maintenance shop, light vehicle maintenance shop, warehouse, five
leach pads, crushing system, two Merrill-Crowe process plants and a
refinery. The components for a second refinery are on-site and will
be constructed as part of the expansion of mining activities. The
crushing system was refurbished as part of the restart activities
and all other facilities are operational with the exception of the
North Merrill-Crowe plant, which will be rehabilitated and brought
on line as is required. The gross book value of plant and equipment
associated with the Hycroft Mine as of December 31, 2021, was
$88.2 million.
Geology and Mineralization
The Hycroft Mine is located on the western flank of the Kamma
Mountains. The deposit is hosted in a volcanic eruptive breccia and
conglomerates associated with the Tertiary Kamma Mountain
volcanics. The volcanics are mainly acidic to intermediate tuffs,
flows and coarse volcanoclastic rocks. Fragments of these units
dominate the clasts in the eruptive breccia. The Central Fault and
East Fault control the distribution of mineralization. A
post-mineral range-front fault separates the ore-body from the
adjacent Pleistocene Lahontan Lake sediments in the Black Rock
Desert. The geological events have created a physical setting
ideally suited to the open-pit, heap-leach mining operation at the
Hycroft Mine. The heap leach method is widely used in the
southwestern United States and allows the economical treatment of
oxidized low-grade ore deposits in large volumes. The Company is
currently contemplating a milling and Acid POX process that is
commonly used worldwide to treat refractory sulfide
ores.
The deposit is typically broken into six major zones based on
geology, mineralization, and alteration. These zones include
Brimstone, Vortex, Central, Bay, Boneyard, and Camel. Breaks
between the zones are major faults.
Mineralization at Hycroft has been deposited through multiple
phases. An early silica sulfide flooding event deposited relatively
low-grade gold and silver mineralization generally along bedding.
This mineralization is cross cut by later, steeply dipping quartz
alunite veins. Late-stage silver bearing veins are found in the
Vortex zone and at depth in the Central area. Late to present
supergene oxidation along faults has liberated precious metals from
sulfide mineralization and further enriched gold and silver
mineralization, along water table levels.
The known gold mineralization extends for a distance of three miles
in a north-south direction by 1.5 miles in an east-west direction.
Mineralization extends to a depth of less than 330 feet in the
outcropping to near-outcropping portion of the deposit on the
northwest side to over 2,500 feet in the Vortex deposit in the
east.
Drilling
The Hycroft mineral resource model includes data from 1981 to 2018
and includes 5,501 holes, representing 2,482,722 ft of drilling.
There have been 5,576 drill holes reported completed in the Hycroft
project area; some are water wells or are outside the resource
model domain and were not applied to estimation. At this time,
there are 5,323 drill holes in the resource model area of which 134
have been drilled to define stockpiles or the Crofoot leach
pad.
Drill hole collar locations are shown in the figure
below.
Consistent with HMC’s suspension of mining operations and
conducting only care and maintenance activities on the Hycroft
Mine, during 2017 and through December 2018, only drilling to
obtain ore for metallurgical testing purposes was conducted. In
December 2018, HMC began confirmation drilling of certain sulfide
ore stockpiles that we planned to mine.
Any expansion of the Hycroft Mine necessary to exploit any
additional mineral resources that may be established through our
exploration drilling program beyond the mineral resources in the
2022 Hycroft TRS, will require us to obtain all permits, approvals
and consents of regulatory agencies responsible for the use and
development of mines in Nevada.
Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources
Our mineral resource estimates are calculated in accordance with
the Modernization Rules. Measured, indicated and inferred mineral
resources may not be comparable to similar information regarding
mineral resources disclosed in accordance with the guidance of
other countries. The estimates of mineral resources may be
materially affected if mining, metallurgical, or infrastructure
factors change from those currently anticipated at the Hycroft
Mine. Estimates of inferred mineral resources have significant
geological uncertainty and it should not be assumed that all or any
part of an inferred mineral resource will be converted to the
measured or indicated categories. Mineral resources that are not
mineral reserves do not meet the threshold for reserve modifying
factors, such as estimated economic viability, that would allow for
conversion to mineral reserves. The Hycroft Mine contains a large
precious metals deposit, based on measured and indicated mineral
resource size. The mineral resource estimates were prepared by and
are the responsibility of IMC, as set forth in the 2022 Hycroft
TRS.
The following description of the Hycroft Mine measured, indicated
and inferred mineral resources does not purport to be complete and
is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, the
full text of the 2022 Hycroft TRS, incorporated by reference as
Exhibit 96.1 to this 2021 Form 10-K and and made a part
hereof.
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Classification |
Cutoff Grade
$ Net of Process
|
Approximate
Cutoff, AuEq
oz/ton
|
Ktons |
Au
oz/ton
|
Ag
oz/ton
|
Sulfide
Sulfur%
|
Au
Contained Ounces
(000)
|
Ag
Contained Ounces
(000)
|
Heap Leach |
Measured |
$0.01 |
0.003 |
97,086 |
0.008 |
0.30 |
2.75 |
777 |
29,417 |
Indicated |
$0.01 |
0.003 |
36,046 |
0.007 |
0.29 |
2.10 |
252 |
10,417 |
Meas + Ind |
$0.01 |
0.003 |
133,132 |
0.008 |
0.30 |
2.57 |
1,029 |
39,834 |
Inferred |
$0.01 |
0.003 |
101,314 |
0.008 |
0.09 |
1.77 |
811 |
9,118 |
|
Mill, Flotation Concentrate, POX and Cyanide Leach Process
Plant |
Measured |
$0.01 |
0.011 |
372,226 |
0.013 |
0.65 |
1.86 |
4,839 |
240,830 |
Indicated |
$0.01 |
0.011 |
314,866 |
0.012 |
0.53 |
1.65 |
3,778 |
165,305 |
Meas + Ind |
$0.01 |
0.011 |
687,092 |
0.013 |
0.59 |
1.76 |
8,617 |
406,135 |
Inferred |
$0.01 |
0.011 |
349,659 |
0.012 |
0.40 |
1.19 |
4,196 |
141,262 |
|
Combined Mineral Resources - Heap Leach Plus Process
Plant |
Measured |
$0.01 |
0.003 - 0.011 |
469,312 |
0.012 |
0.58 |
2.04 |
5,616 |
270,247 |
Indicated |
$0.01 |
0.003 - 0.011 |
350,912 |
0.011 |
0.50 |
1.70 |
4,030 |
175,722 |
Meas + Ind |
$0.01 |
0.003 - 0.011 |
820,224 |
0.012 |
0.54 |
1.90 |
9,646 |
445,969 |
Inferred |
$0.01 |
0.003 - 0.011 |
450,973 |
0.011 |
0.33 |
1.32 |
5,007 |
150,380 |
Notes:
•Cutoffs
grades were determined by income – process cost = NPR = NSR –
Process Opex. Cutoff grade is the minimum grade required for a
mineral to be economically mined and processed to retrieve the
metal for commercial sale. The cutoff grade for Hycroft is
determined by assessing each mine block for gold and silver content
and then applying a cost for extraction of these metals from that
block by employing commercial mining practices and using the
crushing, grinding, flotation, pressure oxidation and cyanide
leaching circuit for oxidized flotation concentrate process to
create a gold / silver dore bar. Process costs include the
environmental practices for placing waste and tailing material in
properly designed facilities that can be remediated in the
future.
•Numbers
in the table have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the
estimate and may not sum due to rounding.
•Mineral
resources are contained within a computer generated optimized pit.
Total material in that pit is 3.516 billion tons.
•All
units are imperial. Ktons refers to 1,000 short tons of 2,000 lbs.
Gold and silver grades are in troy ounces/short ton.
Mineral resources were developed based on a conventional
computer-based block model of the deposit and the application of
open pit optimization software to determine the mineralization with
reasonable expectation of economic extraction. Each block was
evaluated to determine which process provides the best net return
after operating cost. The two processes identified
were:
•Run-of-Mine
(“ROM”) cyanide heap leaching of oxide ore; and
•milling,
flotation and acid pressure oxidation of sulfide and transitional
ores followed by cyanide leach and processing in a Merrill-Crowe
facility.
Other assumptions used to develop measured, indicated and inferred
mineral resources were:
•assumed
prices for gold of $1,800 per ounce and for silver of $23 per
ounce;
•recoveries
for gold and silver were estimated by process type:
◦milling,
flotation and acid pressure oxidation was 76% overall of the fire
assays for gold and 76% for fire assays for silver;
and
◦ROM
heap leaching was 75% for cyanide soluble gold and 12.2% for fire
assay silver;
•base
mining cost of $1.45 per ton with an additional incremental
$0.016/ton applied to each bench below the 4660 level;
•variable
ore processing costs based on geometallurgical domains and sulfur
content; and
•general
and administrative cost $0.75 per ton.
See Table 11-15 in Section 11 of the 2022 Hycroft TRS for a more
detailed presentation of the economic parameters for mineral
resource estimation.
Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and detailed economic
considerations have not been applied. Modifying factors for mine
and process design have not been applied.
Internal Controls and Material Assumptions
IMC developed and updated the block model for the 2022 Hycroft TRS.
Below is the summary of the work and checks they used to develop
the block model.
The Hycroft resource model includes data from 1981 to 2018 and
includes 5,501 holes, representing 2,482,722 ft of drilling. There
have been 5,576 drill holes reported completed in the Hycroft
Project Area; some are water wells or are outside the resource
model domain and were not applied to estimation. The drillhole
collar locations are shown in the 2022 Hycroft TRS and later in
this text. At this time, there are 5,323 drill holes in the
resource model area of which 134 have been drilled to define
stockpiles or the Crofoot leach pad.
In addition to drilling activity, the Company has also conducted
geophysical surveys, soil and rock chip sampling programs, field
mapping, historical data compilation, and regional reconnaissance
at the Hycroft Mine site. These efforts are designed to improve the
understanding of the known mineralization, as well as provide data
for further exploration of the greater property
position.
A soil sampling grid was conducted over the Vortex and Brimstone
areas historically (1,797 samples) and was extended approximately
5,200 ft north and 29,600 ft south of the mine in 2011–2012 (1,834
samples). The soil sampling program was conducted primarily along
the East Fault exposure, which is a primary ore-controlling feature
at Vortex and Brimstone. Soil samples are taken on an evenly spaced
grid, and screened for coarse material and wind-blown material,
resulting in a fraction between 2 mm and 180 um being prepped for
analysis. These samples are considered representative of local soil
geochemistry and are used to guide the regional exploration
effort.
Rock chip sampling has been conducted both historically in the
active mine area, and on a regional basis (2007–present). A
database of 2,416 samples has been compiled, covering the greater
land position. Au values range from 0 to 0.372 oz/ton, while Ag
values range from 0 to 71.8 oz/ton. Rock chip samples have been
taken on most outcrops, with a focus on alteration and potential
mineralization. These samples are used as a guide to exploration
and are point samples only.
The land position has been surveyed with both gravity and induced
polarity (IP) geophysical techniques by Hycroft. The current
ground-based gravity survey covers approximately 130 square miles,
centered on the mine site. Gravity indicates several structural
features and density changes. Gravity has also defined the basin
edge to the west, approximately 4 miles west of the Brimstone
Pit.
Ground IP surveys were run over the mine site and Vortex in 2007
and extended outward in 2011 to cover approximately 24 square
miles. The survey results focus on chargeability anomalies, that
potentially identify sulfide material (> approximately 1.5%) at
depth, and resistivity anomalies, that potentially identify
silicification at depth.
Field mapping was historically and is currently carried out in all
active mine areas. Mapping focuses on structure, bedding, joints,
lithology, and alteration. The near mine data is incorporated into
the three-dimensional geology model, while the regional work is
focused on defining exploration targets for future drilling. A
regional geology map covering the land position was compiled in
2012.
The drillhole database was assembled over many years by multiple
companies using at least four different drill methods.
The gold assay values in the Hycroft legacy database prior to 2000
were stated to be historically factored upward by a factor of 1.19.
Prior to this resource model estimation, that factor was removed by
multiplying all gold assays prior to 2000 by 1/1.19 = 0.8403. The
removal of the factor does not have substantial impact on the
deeper sulfide mineralization component of the deposit, but it does
remove an observed sample bias in the near surface
data.
There are stockpiles and historical leach pads at the Hycroft Mine
that are within the block model area. Many of those have been
drilled after the original excavation of hard rock by sonic or
rotary methods. The stockpile holes have been used to estimate the
stockpile and leach pad areas, they have not been used to estimate
in-situ rock. In total, the Hycroft database contains 5,377 drill
holes with 500,960 sample intervals. Within the area of the block
model, there are 5,323 drill holes with 493,357 drill intervals
amounting to 2,838,923 ft of drilling.
The block model was verified by several methods before being used
to determine mineral resource, including:
•detailed
Visual Checks of Drilling versus Block Estimates;
•swath
Plots;
•IMC
Smear Check; and
•reconciliation
to production history.
IMC completed visual checks on plan and section for all of the
estimated variables in the model. In addition to IMC visual checks,
the Hycroft engineering and geology team on site also reviewed the
model and assisted IMC with identifying and correcting coding
issues prior to finalizing the block model.
Swath plots are a practice now common among resource modelers to
provide a visual indication if the block model follows the grade
trends indicated by the supporting data and if there is any
observable local bias in the block grade estimation.
Quality assurance and quality control methods utilized in the 2022
Hycroft TRS included the use of a test by IMC to understand the
amount of grade smoothing within the block model and to confirm
that the model grades are not high biased, referred to internally
as the “smear check.”
The procedure utilized by IMC was as follows:
•a
range of cutoff grades were selected for the check process,
generally bracketing the potential planning cutoff
grades;
•for
each cutoff grade being tested, the blocks above cutoff were
identified;
•all
composites contained within those blocks were
identified;
•the
average grade of the composites and blocks were tabulated;
and
•the
percentage of the contained composites less than cutoff were
calculated.
IMC completed a reconciliation of the model against 19 months of
reported production for the year ended December 31, 2020 and for
the seven months ended July 31, 2021. The reported 2019 production
from Hycroft included substantial stockpile reclaim that would not
be indicative of the block model response. The 19-month time period
for the test is relatively short with a total of 13,584 ktons of
oxide ore delivered to the leach pad. This represented
approximately 65% of processing the sulfide mineralized materials
for one year.
During 2020, Hycroft delivered ROM to the leach pad and crush leach
to the crusher prior to loading on the pad. Sulfide material that
was being considered for a sulfide atmospheric leach was stockpiled
for future processing. Hycroft provided IMC with calculations for
materials control routing that are used at site. Those methods were
set up for application to the 2021 block model by IMC.
Some modifications were made by IMC during the installation of the
materials control procedure. During 2021, Hycroft stopped crushing
leached oxide ore and shipped ROM oxide ore only to the pad. IMC
assumed that material that would report to crush leach would
instead be shipped directly as ROM to the pad.
Hycroft provided surface files that reflect the mine survey
progress. The surface files were used to measure the material
within the block model for each of the time periods at the cutoffs
reportedly applied during the control.
Tonnage from the model is about 4% less than reported by the
materials control. Gold grade is substantially lower than the
materials control grade from blast holes.
A check of the database composites contained within the materials
control shapes indicate that average of the composites contained in
the materials control are less than the materials control grade and
match the predicted grade from the block model. As a result, the
composite data could not generate a gold grade as high as that
reported by materials control. The difference may be due to smaller
selective mining units or blast hole bias. In summary, the data
within the mining shapes could not support grades that are
different from those estimated in the model.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors Regarding Mineral
Resources.
The mineral resource estimates included herein or incorporated by
reference herein, including in the 2022 Hycroft TRS, have been
prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Modernization
Rules as set forth in subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K which became
widely applicable on January 1, 2021. These disclosures differ in
material respects from the prior requirements set forth in Industry
Guide 7, including in that mineral resource information was not
permitted and mineral resources have been calculated in accordance
with the provision of subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K.These
standards differ significantly from the disclosure requirements of
Industry Guide 7 in that mineral resource information contained
herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by
U.S. companies that have not implemented the Modernization Rules
promulgated by the SEC. Under SEC standards, mineralization, such
are mineral resources, may not be classified as a “mineral reserve”
unless the determination has been made that the mineralization
could be economically and legally produce or extracted at the time
of the reserve determination. The term “economically,” as was used
in the SEC’s Industry Guide 7 definition of mineral reserves, means
that profitable extraction or production has been established or
analytically demonstrated in a feasibility study to be viable and
justifiable under reasonable investment and market assumptions. The
term “legally” as used in the SEC’s Industry Guide 7 definition of
mineral reserves, does not imply that all permits needed for mining
and processing have been obtained or that other legal issues have
been completely resolved. However, for a reserve to exist, we must
have a justifiable expectation, based on applicable laws and
regulations, that issuance of permits or resolution of legal issues
necessary for mining and processing at a particular deposit will be
accomplished in the ordinary course and in a timeframe consistent
with our current mine plans. The terms “Mineral Resource”,
“Measured Mineral Resource”, “Indicated Mineral Resource” and
“Inferred Mineral Resource” are defined and used in accordance with
the Modernization Rules. You are specifically cautioned not to
assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits (including
mineral resources) in these categories will ever be converted into
mineral reserves, as defined by the SEC. You are further cautioned
that, except for any portion of mineral resources, as applicable,
classified as mineral reserves, mineral resources do not have
demonstrated economic value. Inferred mineral resources have a high
degree of uncertainty as to their existence as to whether they can
be economically or legally mined. Under the Modernization Rules,
estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of
an economic analysis. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of
an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher
category. A significant amount of exploration must be completed in
order to determine whether an inferred mineral resource may be
upgraded to a higher category. Therefore, you are cautioned not to
assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists,
that it can be economically or legally mined, or that it will ever
be upgraded to a higher category. Likewise, you are cautioned not
to assume that all or any part of measured or indicated mineral
resources will be upgraded to mineral reserves.
Technical Report Summaries and Qualified Persons
The scientific and technical information concerning our mineral
properties in this 2021 Form 10-K have been reviewed and approved
by third-party "qualified persons" under the Modernization Rules,
including Ausenco Engineering USA South Inc., Independent Mining
Consultants, Inc, ("IMC") and WestLand Engineering &
Environmental Services, Inc. For a description of the key
assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate mineral
resources included in this 2021 Form 10-K, as well as data
verification procedures and a general discussion of the extent to
which the estimates may be affected by any known environmental,
permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing or
other relevant factors, please review the 2022 Hycroft
TRS.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
From time to time we may be involved in various legal actions
related to our business, some of which are class action lawsuits.
We do not believe, based on currently available information, that
contingencies related to any pending or threatened legal matter
will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial
statements, although a contingency could be material to our results
of operations or cash flows for a particular period depending on
our results of operations and cash flows for such period.
Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on
us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management
resources, and other factors.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
We believe that "the miner is the most important thing to come out
of a mine" and we support that belief through our philosophy of
"continuous improvement." The Company mandated mine safety and
health programs include employee and contractor training, risk
management, workplace inspection, emergency response, accident
investigation, and program auditing. These programs are a focus for
our leadership and top management and are essential at all levels
to ensure that our employees, contractors, and visitors operate
safely. Our goal for these programs is to have zero workplace
injuries and occupational illness and we will focus on continuous
improvement of our programs and practices to achieve this goal and
we are implementing programs and practices to align our safety
culture with that goal.
One of the metrics we use to measure our safety performance is the
industry standard Total Reportable Injury Frequency Rate ("TRIFR").
The Hycroft Mine’s TRIFR per 200,000 man-hours worked (including
contractors) was 0.64 at the end of 2021, as compared to 2.30 at
the end of 2020 and the mining industry average of approximately
1.75 for 2021. In 2021, we recruited new leadership from strong
safety cultures in the mining industry that helped us successfully
rebuild the Hycroft Mine safety culture utilizing elements in
advanced safety practices and management making them the
cornerstone for our safety success. We emphasize safety as a
cornerstone of our corporate culture and continue with the
practices, and people to elevate our safety performance in all site
activities.
The operation of the Hycroft Mine is subject to regulation by the
Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) under the
Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (the “Mine Act”). MSHA
inspects our mine on a regular basis and issues various citations
and orders when it believes a violation has occurred under the Mine
Act. Following passage of The Mine Improvement and New Emergency
Response Act of 2006, MSHA significantly increased the numbers of
citations and orders charged against mining operations. The dollar
penalties assessed for citations issued has also increased in
recent years.
The information concerning mine safety violations or other
regulatory matters required by Section 1503(a) of the
Dodd-Frank Act and Item 104 of Regulation S-K is included in
Exhibit 95.1 to this 2021 Form 10-K.
PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER
MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our common stock began publicly trading on the Nasdaq Capital
Market under the symbol “HYMC” on June 1, 2020. Prior to that time,
shares of Class A common stock traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market
under the symbol "MUDS".
On March 30, 2022, the last reported sale price of our common stock
on the Nasdaq Capital Market was $2.39. As of March 31, 2022,
there were 196,803,459
shares
of our common stock issued and outstanding, and we had 66
registered stockholders of record.
Dividend Policy
We have never paid dividends on our common stock and currently have
no plans to do so. The Sprott Credit Agreement contains provisions
that restrict our ability to pay dividends. For additional
information on these restrictions, please see
Part II – Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations – Debt covenants
and
Note 10 - Debt, Net
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
During year ended December 31, 2021, we did not purchase any
of our equity securities that are registered under Section 12(b) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange
Act”). The Sprott Credit Agreement contains provisions that
restrict our ability to repurchase or redeem capital
stock.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of
Proceeds
On October 6, 2021, the Company agreed to issue an aggregate of up
to 275,000 shares of the Company's common stock as consideration
for entering into a Waiver and Amendment to the Transition and
Succession Agreement with Randy Buffington, the former Chairman of
the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
The Waiver and Amendment terminated the remaining unpaid cash
payments to Mr. Buffington pursuant to the Transition and
Succession Agreement and Consulting Agreement in the aggregate
amount of $0.7 million, in exchange for the issuance. On
October 8, 2021, 137,500 shares of common stock with a grant date
fair value of $0.2 million were issued to Randy Buffington, with
the remaining 137,500 shares of common stock to be issued on June
30, 2022.
On March 14, 2022, the Company entered into subscription agreements
(the “Subscription Agreements” and each a “Subscription Agreement”)
with each of American Multi-Cinema, Inc. (“AMC”) and 2176423
Ontario Limited, an entity affiliated with Eric Sprott (“Sprott”
and together with AMC, the “Purchasers”), pursuant to which the
Company agreed to sell to the Purchasers, in a private placement,
an aggregate of 46,816,480 units (“Units”) at a purchase price per
Unit of $1.193, with each Unit consisting of one share of the
Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share
(“Common Stock”) and one warrant to purchase a share of Common
Stock and the shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants (the
“Warrant Shares”), providing for a total purchase price of
approximately $55.9 million (the “Private Placement”). The Warrants
issued in the Private Placement have an exercise price of $1.068
per Warrant Share, and will expire five years after
issuance.
The closing of the sales of securities pursuant to the Subscription
Agreements occurred on March 15, 2022 for gross proceeds to the
Company of approximately $55.9 million.
The Company intends to use the proceeds for general corporate
purposes, which may include the repayment, refinancing, redemption
or repurchase of existing indebtedness, working capital or capital
expenditures and other investments, which may include additional
technical evaluations and studies, advancement of the Initial
Assessment in the 2022 Hycroft TRS to a pre-feasibility and/or
feasibility study and additional exploration at the Hycroft
Mine.
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the
Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information
required under this item.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion, which has been prepared based on
information available to us as of March 31, 2022, provides
information that we believe is relevant to an assessment and
understanding of our consolidated operating results and financial
condition. As a result of the completion of the Recapitalization
Transaction, the financial statements of Seller are now the
financial statements of the Company. Prior to the Recapitalization
Transaction, the Company had no operating assets but, upon
consummation of the Recapitalization Transaction, the business and
operating assets of Seller sold to the Company became the sole
business and operating assets of the Company. Accordingly, the
financial statements of Seller and its subsidiaries as they existed
prior to the Recapitalization Transaction and reflecting the sole
business and operating assets of the Company going forward, are now
the financial statements of the Company. The following discussion
should be read in conjunction with our other reports filed with the
SEC as well as our consolidated financial statements (the
"Consolidated Financial Statements") and the notes thereto (the
"Notes") included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2021 ("2021 Form 10-K"). Terms not defined
herein have the same meaning defined elsewhere in this 2021 Form
10-K.
The following MD&A generally discusses our consolidated
financial condition and results of operations for 2021 and 2020 and
year-to-year comparisons between 2021 and 2020.
Introduction to the Company
We are a U.S.-based gold and silver company that is focused on
developing our wholly owned Hycroft Mine in a safe,
environmentally responsible, and cost-effective manner. Gold and
silver sales represent 100% of our operating revenues and the
market prices of gold and silver significantly impact our financial
position, operating results, and cash flows. The Hycroft Mine is
located in the State of Nevada and the corporate office is located
in Winnemucca, Nevada. We recently filed the 2022 Hycroft TRS which
contemplates processing gold and silver ore using milling and
pressure oxidation to process sulfide ore along with heap leaching
to process oxide and transition ore.
As discussed throughout this MD&A, including within the
Hycroft Mine
section, during the year ended December 31, 2021, while we have
been able to achieve or improve on certain of our internal
operating, processing, sales and production cost targets, because
the Company was operating at a pre-commercial scale until it ceased
mining operations in November 2021, it has incurred a net operating
loss with negative cash flows before financing activities. Refer to
the
Liquidity and Capital Resources
section of this MD&A for additional details.
Health and Safety
We believe that safety is a core value and we support that belief
through our philosophy of safe work performance. Our mandatory mine
safety and health programs include employee engagement and
ownership of safety performance, accountability, employee and
contractor training, risk management, workplace inspection,
emergency response, accident investigation, and program auditing.
This integrated approach is essential to ensure that our employees,
contractors, and visitors operate safely.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we reported no lost time
accidents. The Hycroft Mine’s Total Reportable Injury Frequency
Rate ("TRIFR") for the trailing twelve months, is one of the
metrics we use to assess safety performance, and it is well below
industry averages and significantly below historical levels
experienced at the Hycroft Mine. During the year ended December 31,
2021, we continued our critical focus on safety, including
allocating additional personnel, resources, workforce time, and
communications to mine safety. These actions contributed to a
reduction in our TRIFR to approximately 0.64 at December 31,
2021, compared with approximately 2.30 at December 31, 2020,
an approximate 80% reduction. We will continue our safety efforts
to reach the level of safety we expect and need to keep our
workforce, contractors, and visitors safe.
For health and safety actions specific to COVID-19, refer to
the
Recent Developments
section of this MD&A.
Executive Summary
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we operated a conventional
ROM heap leach operation at pre-commercial scale using a mix of the
Hycroft-owned mining fleet and a rental mining fleet until ceasing
mining operations in November 2021 due to cost pressures for many
of the reagents and consumables used at the Hycroft Mine, and the
timeline for completing our updated technical studies in early
2022. We will continue to produce gold and silver from ore on the
leach pads as long as it is economic. When the operation was
re-started in 2019, mining oxide and transition ore allowed the
Company to pre-strip overburden with some revenue offset to gain
access to commercial scale sulfide mineralization. With the change
in focus from the two-stage heap oxidation and leach to a milling
operation, there is ample time to align the remaining pre-stripping
with the start-up of commercial scale sulfide operations. We
believe that this action will conserve cash and focus the Company's
time and resources on its technical studies for sulfide ore. The
metallurgical and variability drill program concluded in Q1 2022
and metallurgical analysis and test work is expected to continue
through Q3 2022.
The Company has previously discussed its strategy for developing an
economic sulfide process for Hycroft. Based on the Company's
findings to-date, including the analysis completed by an
independent third-party research laboratory and the independent
reviews by two metallurgical consultants, the Company does not
believe the novel two-stage sulfide heap oxidation and leach
process ("Novel Process"), as currently designed in the 2019
Hycroft TRS, is economic at current metal prices or those metal
prices used in the 2019 Hycroft TRS. Subject to the challenges
discussed below, we will complete test work that is currently
underway and may advance our understanding of the Novel Process in
the future.
Following a review of past and recent test work and based on the
currently contemplated designs and operating parameters of the
alternative sulfide processing methods being studied including the
Novel Process, and milling with atmospheric alkaline oxidation or
alkaline pressure oxidation ("POX"), the Company, working closely
with its industry leading technical consultants, completed pit
optimization runs and trade-off analyses comparing the alternative
processes which reflected that an Acid POX process has
significantly better economics than other processes studied.
Therefore, the Company focused its study efforts and resources
solely on the Acid POX Initial Assessment which was prepared by
Ausenco, with an effective date of February 18, 2022. The Acid POX
process included in the 2022 Hycroft TRS is a conventional
crushing, grinding, and flotation circuit that generates a
concentrate to be fed to an autoclave facility commonly used for
refractory gold ores in this region.
2021 Highlights
•Safety
-
Hycroft’s safety performance was significantly improved with a 0.64
Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) at the end of 2021,
which was an 80% reduction from 2.30 at the end of 2020. At month
end January 2022, the TRIFR improved to a new low of
0.31.
•Production
-
Gold production for the year ended December 31, 2021, of 57,668
ounces exceeded the high end of the guidance range as the process
team continued to improve equipment, process control and costs.
Silver production of 355,967 ounces was approximately 20% below
guidance due to slower than planned leach kinetics. Processing of
ore on leach pads is currently planned to proceed through the
second quarter of 2022.
•Cash
Position -
The Company ended 2021 with $12.3 million of cash on hand and
was in compliance with debt covenants.
2021 Development Highlights
•Drill
Results
-
During the 2021 drill program Hycroft encountered positive assay
results further supporting the strategy to enhance the deposit
through exploration drilling:
◦Higher-grade
intercepts from the 2021 drill program returned approximately 102
intercepts (1.5-meter intervals) averaging 4.1 grams per metric ton
(“g/t”) or 0.13 ounces per ton (“opt”) gold and 85.3 g/t (2.73 opt)
silver.
◦Recent
near-surface, higher-grade material was encountered in the Porter
area of the deposit with intervals including 3 meters grading 9.13
g/t (0.29 opt) gold and 32.55 g/t (1.04 opt) silver within a larger
interval of 19.8 meters grading 1.78 g/t (0.06 opt) gold and 12.85
g/t (0.41 opt) silver (H21C-5568) and 12.2 meters grading 0.68 g/t
(0.02 opt) gold and 12.78 g/t (0.41 opt) silver
(H21C-5552).
◦Exploration
drilling in the Vortex Zone identified gold grades that are up to
five times higher than the average Mineral Resource grades at
Hycroft of 0.34 g/t (0.011 opt). Significant intercepts previously
reported from that drilling included 51.8 meters (170 feet) grading
2.47 g/t (0.08 opt) gold and 25.5 g/t (0.82 opt) silver (H21R-5592)
and an additional intercept of 30.5 meters (100 feet) grading 0.71
g/t (0.02 opt) gold and 17.5 g/t (0.56 opt) silver in drill hole
H21R-5591.
•Variability
Program
-
The drilling portion of the program concluded in January 2022. The
Company completed 12,985 meters of drilling in 62 holes. This
generated 92 samples and two bulk samples for variability testing
and enhancing information in the metallurgical database. Backlogs
in the independent labs due reduced staffing levels associated with
the COVID-19 pandemic combined with delayed drilling have adversely
impacted the assays and variability work schedule. To date, the
Company has received test results for approximately 20% of the
samples. Additional test results on the remaining samples are
anticipated to be received over the course of the next two
quarters, assuming no further delays.
Recent Developments
COVID-19
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak
of a novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) as a pandemic, which continues
to spread throughout the United States with new variants of the
virus. Efforts implemented by local and national governments,
as well as businesses, including temporary closures, have had
adverse impacts on local, national and global economies. We have
implemented health and safety policies and protocols for employees,
contractors, and visitors that follow guidelines published by the
Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Mine Safety and Health
Administration ("MSHA"). During 2021, and the fourth quarter of
2020, our operations were limited by COVID-19 related absences,
however the impact while negative, did not materially and adversely
affect our operations. The extent of the impact of COVID-19 on our
operational and financial performance going forward will depend on
certain developments, including but not limited to the duration and
continued spread of the outbreak and strand mutations, the
availability and use of vaccines, the development of therapeutic
drugs and treatments, and the direct and indirect impacts on our
employees, vendors, and customers, all of which are uncertain and
cannot be fully anticipated or predicted. Since the Hycroft Mine
represents the entirety of our operations, any further COVID-19
outbreaks at the mine site or any governmental restrictions
implemented to combat the pandemic could result in a partial or an
entire shutdown of the Hycroft Mine itself, which would adversely
impact our financial position, operating results, and cash
flows.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, the site continued to
manage COVID-19 control restrictions in accordance with state,
national, and CDC guidelines and will continue to monitor and
follow those guidelines going forward.
To date, COVID-19 related absences have limited our operations from
time-to-time but did not materially disrupt our operations.
Additionally, we have not experienced any material disruptions to
our supply chain because of COVID-19. However, we can provide no
assurance that our operations will not be materially adversely
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the future that could result
from any worsening of the pandemic, the effect of mutating strains,
additional outbreaks of the pandemic, actions taken to contain the
pandemic’s spread or treat its impact, continued availability of
vaccines, and their distribution, acceptance and efficacy, and
governmental, business and individual actions taken in response to
the pandemic including government-imposed regulations regarding,
among other things, COVID-19 testing, vaccine mandates and related
workplace restrictions.
Mineral Resource Update
Gold equivalent mineral resources totaled 15.5 million ounces of
measured and indicated and 6.9 million ounces of inferred. For this
study, IMC developed the Hycroft Mine resource block model which
includes data from 1981 to 2018 and includes 5,501 holes,
representing 2,482,722 ft of drilling. The current inflationary
environment and change in processing technique has resulted in
increased cost assumptions and an associated higher cut-off grade
partially mitigated by higher recoveries leading to a change in the
mineral resource estimate, when compared with the prior
model.
The mineral resources were estimated based upon results of the 2022
Hycroft TRS, as conducted in accordance with the Modernization
Rules. With the issuance of the 2022 Hycroft TRS reflecting a
different mining process, the 2019 Hycroft TRS is superseded and
the 2019 Hycroft TRS and information from such 2019 Hycroft TRS
should no longer be relied upon.
Private Placement
On March 14, 2022,
the Company entered into subscription agreements (the “Subscription
Agreements” and each a “Subscription Agreement”) with each of
American Multi-Cinema, Inc. (“AMC”) and 2176423 Ontario Limited, an
entity affiliated with Eric Sprott (“Sprott” and together with AMC,
the “Purchasers”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell to
the Purchasers, in a private placement, an aggregate of 46,816,480
units (“Units”) at a purchase price per Unit of $1.193, with each
Unit consisting of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock,
par value $0.0001 per share (“Common Stock”) and one warrant to
purchase a share of Common Stock and the shares issuable upon
exercise of the Warrants (the
“Warrant Shares”), providing for a total purchase price of
approximately $55.9 million (the “Private Placement”). The Warrants
issued in the Private Placement have an exercise price of $1.068
per Warrant Share, and will expire five years after
issuance.
The closing of the sales of securities pursuant to the Subscription
Agreements occurred on March 15, 2022 for gross proceeds to the
Company of approximately $55.9 million before deducting expenses
incurred in connection with the Private Placement.
The Company intends to use the proceeds for general corporate
purposes, which may include the repayment, refinancing, redemption
or repurchase of existing indebtedness, working capital or capital
expenditures and other investments, which may include additional
technical evaluations and studies, advancement of the Initial
Assessment in the 2022 Hycroft TRS to a pre-feasibility and/or
feasibility study and additional exploration at the Hycroft
Mine.
The Subscription Agreement with AMC also provided AMC with the
right to appoint a director to the Company’s board of directors
(the “Board”) and the Company agreed to support such director’s
nomination so long as AMC retains at least 50% of the common stock
purchased under the Subscription Agreement with AMC.
As part of the Subscription Agreements, the Company is required to
prepare and file a resale registration statement with the SEC as
soon as practicable, but in no event later than ten (10) business
days after the filing of this 2021 Form 10-K to register the Common
Stock, Warrants and Warrant Shares for sale under the Securities
Act.
Agreement with Sprott Private Resource Lending II (Collector),
LP
On November 10, 2021, the Company entered into a waiver with Sprott
Private Resource Lending II (Collector) (the "Lender") of certain
provisions of the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement effective
November 10, 2021 (the "November 2021 Waiver"). Pursuant to the
November 2021 Waiver, the Lender has permitted the Company to cease
active mining operations and to reduce the amount of Unrestricted
Cash required to be maintained by the Company from not less than
$10.0 million to not less than $9.0 million for the period ending
May 10, 2022
On February 28, 2022 the Company entered into a waiver and
amendment agreement with the Lender and Sprott Private Resource
Lending II (Co) Inc. (the "February 2022 Waiver and Amendment")
amending the previous waiver and require that the Company maintain
at least $7.5 million of Unrestricted Cash on the last day of
February 2022 and at least $9.0 million on the last day of each
month thereafter during the waiver period, waived all obligations
of the Company to prepay the facility with the net cash proceeds of
any mill asset sales until the earlier of the date on which the
Company completes a private placement or other offering or issuance
of its equity securities and March 31, 2022, and extended the
payment due date for the February additional interest payment and
the February principal payment until the earlier of any such
offering date and March 31, 2022.
On March 11, 2022, the Company entered into an agreement (the
“March 2022 Sprott Agreement”) with the Lender with respect to the
Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of May 29, 2020 (as
amended, restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to
time, the “Sprott Credit Agreement”) among the Company, the Lender,
the Guarantors (as defined in the Sprott Credit Agreement) and the
other parties thereto. As described in the March 2022 Sprott
Agreement, the Company was contemplating the sale or issuance of
its equity securities pursuant to one or more transactions to be
completed on or before March 31, 2022 (the “Equity Financing
Transactions”). Pursuant to the March 2022 Sprott Agreement, if the
Equity Financing Transactions result (or are likely to result
pursuant to definitive subscription underwriting and/or similar
legally binding agreements) in the Company’s receipt of total gross
cash proceeds (before deduction of fees and expenses) of at least
$50 million on or before March 31, 2022 (the “Required Equity
Amount”), the Lender and the Company will amend the principal
repayment terms under the Sprott Credit Agreement such that no
further scheduled payments of principal shall be required prior to
May 31, 2025 (the “Maturity Date”) (i.e., there will be no required
regular amortization payments of the Facility (as defined in the
Sprott Credit Agreement) and the full principal balance of the
Facility shall be due and payable in a single “bullet” payment on
the Maturity Date). The consummation of the Private Placement as
described under “Private Placement” above satisfied the Required
Equity Amount condition in the March 2022 Sprott
Agreement.
The March 2022 Sprott Agreement also provides that, in connection
with the modification of the required facility amortization
payments, the Company shall pay in-kind to the Lender an amount
equal to $3.3 million, with such amount to be capitalized and added
to the principal amount owing under the Sprott Credit Agreement and
accrue interest at the same rate and upon the same terms as the
existing loans under the Sprott Credit Agreement; provided, the
payment or prepayment of such capitalized principal amount shall
not be subject to the Prepayment Premium (as defined in the Sprott
Credit Agreement) or any other penalty or premium.
Second Amendment to Sprott Credit Agreement
On March 30, 2022, the Company and Lender under the Sprott Credit
Agreement entered into the Second Amended and Restated Credit
Agreement dated March 30, 2022 (“Second A&R Agreement”), which
(a) extends the maturity date for all of
the loans and other principal obligations under the Sprott Credit
Facility by two years, to May 31, 2027; (b) provides for the
Company to prepay principal under the facility in the amount of
$10.0 million promptly upon the Company’s receipt of cash proceeds
from the Private Placement offering with American Multi-Cinema,
Inc. and 2176423 Ontario Limited (the “Initial Equity Proceeds
Prepayment”); (c) provides for the Company to prepay principal
under the Sprott Credit Agreement in the amount of $13.9 million
(representing 10% of the subsequent issuance of its equity
interests consummated on or prior to March 31, 2022) (the
“Subsequent Equity Proceeds Prepayments”); and (d) eliminates the
prepayment premiums otherwise payable with respect to the Initial
Equity Proceeds Prepayment, the Subsequent Equity Proceeds
Prepayments and all future prepayments of principal under the
Sprott Credit Facility. In addition, the Company’s obligations to
prepay principal with proceeds of asset sales will be
credited/offset by the aggregate amount of Initial Equity Proceeds
Prepayment and the Subsequent Equity Proceeds Prepayments ($23.9
million), and to maintain a minimum amount of Unrestricted Cash (as
defined in the Second A&R Agreement) is increased to $15.0
million. The Company (i) paid the previously deferred additional
interest payment of $0.5 million, (ii) made the Initial Equity
Proceeds Prepayment of $10.0 million and paid in kind a $3.3
million fee in connection with the modification and capitalized it
to principal on March 16, 2022 and (iii) made the Subsequent Equity
Proceeds Prepayment of $13.9 million on March 30, 2022; and after
giving effect to such prepayments the outstanding principal balance
under the Second A&R Agreement is estimated to be $57.9 million
(before issuance discounts) including unpaid additional interest of
approximately $7.1 million.
At-the-market Offering of Common Shares
On March 15, 2022, the Company implemented an “at-the-market
offering” program (“ATM Program”) by entering into an At Market
Issuance Sales Agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with B. Riley
Securities, Inc. (the “Agent”). Under the terms of the Sales
Agreement, the Company may from time to time to or through the
Agent, acting as sales agent or principal, offer and sell shares of
the Company’s common stock having a gross sales price of up to
$500,000,000.
The compensation payable to the Agent for sales of shares pursuant
to the Sales Agreement was equal to 3.0% of the gross sales price
for any shares of common stock sold through the ATM Program by
Agent as sales agent under the Sales Agreement.
Shares sold under the Sales Agreement, were issued pursuant to the
Company’s shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-257567)
(the “Registration Statement”) that the SEC declared effective on
July 13, 2021, including the prospectus, dated July 13, 2021, and
the prospectus supplement, dated March 15, 2022.
On March 25, 2022, the Company announced that it had terminated the
ATM Program having sold 89,553,602 shares of common stock and
generated aggregate gross proceeds before commissions and offering
expenses of approximately $138.6 million.
Following consummation of all sales under the ATM Program, the
Company will have 196,803,459 Shares issued and
outstanding.
Amendment to the 10% Senior Secured Notes and Note Exchange
Agreement
On March 14, 2022, the Company entered into an amendment to the 10%
Senior Secured Notes and Note Exchange Agreement (the “Note
Amendment”), with (i) certain direct and indirect subsidiaries of
the Company as Guarantors; (ii) holders of the 10% Senior Secured
Notes (the "Notes"), including certain funds affiliated with, or
managed by, Mudrick Capital Management, L.P, Whitebox Advisors,
LLC, Highbridge Capital Management, LLC, Aristeia Highbridge
Capital Management, LLC and Wolverine Asset Management, LLC
(collectively, the “Amending Holders”), and (iii) Wilmington Trust,
National Association, in its capacity as collateral agent. The Note
Amendment amends the Note Exchange Agreement dated as of January
13, 2020 (the “Note Exchange Agreement”) and the Notes (as defined
in the Note Exchange Agreement) issued thereunder in order to
extend the maturity date of the Notes from December 1, 2025 to
December 1, 2027. The Note Amendment also removes the requirements
that a holder receive the consent of the Company and the other
holders in order to transfer any Note. The Amending Holders
constitute all of the holders of the Notes. The Note Amendment
became effective upon the closing of the Private Placement Offering
upon receipt of $55.9 million gross cash proceeds (before deduction
of fees and expenses).
Amendment to the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Certificate
of Incorporation
On March 11, 2022, the Board approved an amendment to the Company’s
Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation increasing
the number of authorized shares of the Company’s Class A common
stock by 1,000,000,000 to a total of 1,400,000,000 (the
“Certificate of Incorporation Amendment”) and directed that the
Certificate of Incorporation Amendment be submitted for
consideration by the stockholders of the Corporation. On March 15,
2022, AMC, Sprott, and entities affiliated with Mudrick Capital
Management LP, who together constituted the holders of a majority
of the Common Stock, approved the Certificate of Incorporation
Amendment by written consent. The Certificate of Incorporation
Amendment will not become effective until 20 days after the Company
distributes an Information Statement on Schedule 14C to the
stockholders of the
Company. The Company expects to commence mailing of the Information
Statement on Schedule 14C to the stockholders of the Company on or
about April 1, 2022.
2022 Outlook
Our current operating plan is to: (i) operate safely as we continue
to process heap leach inventory until it is no longer economic;
(ii) complete the metallurgical test work associated with the
variability drilling program; (iii) conduct exploration activities
and targeted exploration drilling; and (iv) continue to advance the
Acid POX technical study to a pre-feasibility or feasibility
level.
Technical Activities
During 2021, we continued to work alongside our industry leading
consultants to provide additional and expanded information on the
ore body and investigate opportunities for improvements in
operating parameters for commercial scale operations at the Hycroft
Mine. This information is critical in understanding the
mineralogical properties of the deposit and ultimately the most
economic processing technology for the various ore domains.
Accordingly, we developed an approximate $10 million program for
drilling and additional metallurgical and mineralogical studies in
2021 and early 2022. The drilling program was completed in January
2022, and the metallurgical test work portion of the program is
expected to be completed in the early third quarter of 2022. Lab
testing continues to be challenged by labor shortages and equipment
availability. As of December 31, 2021, we have spent $7.3 million
under the program.
Ongoing and future technical work for the Hycroft Mine will be
primarily focused on the Acid POX milling for processing sulfide
ore and completing the variability and metallurgical test work. We
also plan to evaluate exploration opportunities targeting higher
ore grades and expect to continue to advance the Novel Process as
time and resources permit.
•Exploration
– We have identified exploration drilling opportunities to follow
up on higher grade areas that would benefit from expanded drilling
in order to convert inferred blocks to measured or indicated
blocks, and areas that are prospective for higher grade material.
We currently have plans to opportunistically and cost effectively
drill these areas as we have drilling capacity with the drill rigs
that were contracted to complete the variability drilling
program.
•Mill
sulfide processing options
–
While our technical team continued to progress and develop an
understanding of the requirements for implementing the Novel
Process on a commercial scale, we received a completed peer
reviewed report in the fourth quarter 2021 from one of our
independent technical consultants stating that, for reasons
outlined below as well as increased commodity costs, it did not
appear that the proprietary two-stage oxidation and leaching
process as detailed in the 2019 Hycroft TRS, will be economic as
designed at current metal prices or those metal prices used in the
2019 Hycroft TRS. Based on scoping level economic analyses on
multiple processing options completed by our technical team,
together with independent engineering firms and consultants and on
the currently contemplated designs and operating parameters of the
alternative sulfide milling processes being studied, we completed
pit optimization runs comparing the alternative processes. The
comparative analysis indicated that using an Acid POX process
should be significantly more economic than the alternatives.
Therefore, we used the test results and documented recoveries from
the Acid POX process in the financial determination of the mineral
resource. These are documented in the 2022 Hycroft
TRS.
•Two-stage
sulfide heap oxidation and leach process
– As a result of challenges to consistently achieve targeted
oxidation and recoveries from the Novel Process, our new technical
and operating team, together with our industry leading
metallurgical consultants, initiated detailed reviews of the
technical information and prior work. We also had fresh samples of
material from our Brimstone deposit metallurgically tested and
launched a $10.0 million expanded variability drilling and
metallurgical test program in late Q1 2021. While the variability
metallurgical test work is ongoing, the information to date
supports our view that milling is likely the preferred method of
processing sulfide ores at the Hycroft Mine. Additionally, while
the chemistry of the two-stage sulfide oxidation and leach process
has been confirmed, the commercial scale application of the process
as currently understood will be economically challenged due
to:
◦Higher
operating costs -
In the field work on the pre-commercial test pads, higher levels of
soda ash were being applied to oxidize the transitional ore, and
inconsistencies in achieving the targeted oxidation levels across
the ore body. The test work has confirmed soda ash consumption is
significantly higher than what was estimated in the 2019 Hycroft
TRS. Moreover, the cost of soda ash and other reagents has
increased substantially since 2019, which will negatively impact
operating costs;
◦Higher
capital costs -
We identified a number of critical areas that had not been
previously addressed in the 2019 Hycroft TRS. These included 1) the
logistical placement of large volumes of new ROM material at the
same time there is removal of material for preparation of the
second stage, 2) the implementation of on/off pads to avoid
comingling solutions on the leach pads, 3) addition of a material
handling system, 4) an additional amalgamation circuit, and 5) an
additional forced air injection pumping system. As a result, the
necessary capital costs were expected to be materially higher than
previously reported. Additionally, working capital was projected to
be higher due to slower oxidation rates for some ores;
◦Lower
recoveries on some ores -
After reviewing all the column tests and considering additional
factors in measuring oxidation and recovery rates, we were not able
to consistently replicate a strong correlation between oxidation
rates and gold recoveries. We believe that more test work is
required before implementing this process in a commercial setting;
and
◦Finer
crush size will be required -
After reviewing all the column tests and considering additional
factors in measuring oxidation and recovery rates, we were not able
to consistently replicate a strong correlation between oxidation
rates and gold recoveries. We believe that more test work is
required before implementing this process in a commercial
setting.
We currently believe that more test and development work is
required to demonstrate that the Novel Process can be applied
successfully on a commercial scale and the analysis to date
indicates the process may not be amenable to all ore domains at the
Hycroft Mine. For the near term, we currently plan to complete the
following test work which is important and will benefit all
processing methods for the Hycroft Mine:
•Column
test work -
Column tests are being performed on sulfide ores mined during the
year ended December 31, 2021. These column tests will provide
additional information for the Novel Process.
•Variability
test work -
The variability test work that is underway is necessary for all
commercial scale sulfide processing options. The test work includes
a suite of laboratory tests designed to:
◦understand
the metallurgical characteristics of each geologic domain and their
amenability to various processing technologies;
◦understand
the metallurgical characteristics of sulfide material below the
water table;
◦understand
the role other minerals may play in the overall oxidation
process;
◦determine
amenability to oxidation in each geologic domain; and
◦establish
a relationship between oxidation levels and gold recoveries across
each geologic domain.
Hycroft Mine
Operations
The following table provides a summary of operating results for the
Hycroft Mine:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
Ore mined - sulfide stockpile |
(ktons) |
|
1,505 |
|
— |
Ore mined - crusher feed |
(ktons) |
|
— |
|
4,941 |
Ore mined - ROM |
(ktons) |
|
6,853 |
|
1,873 |
Total ore mined |
(ktons) |
|
8,358 |
|
6,814 |
Waste mined |
(ktons) |
|
4,934 |
|
4,815 |
Total mined |
(ktons) |
|
13,292 |
|
11,629 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Waste tons to ore tons strip ratio |
(#) |
|
0.59 |
|
0.71 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ore grade mined - gold |
(oz/ton) |
|
0.014 |
|
0.014 |
Ore grade mined - silver |
(oz/ton) |
|
0.425 |
|
0.261 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Production - gold |
(oz) |
|
57,668 |
|
27,392 |
Production - silver |
(oz) |
|
355,967 |
|
178,836 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ounces sold - gold |
(oz) |
|
56,045 |
|
24,892 |
Ounces sold - silver |
(oz) |
|
397,546 |
|
136,238 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average realized sales price - gold |
($/oz) |
|
$ |
1,794 |
|
|
$ |
1,779 |
|
Average realized sales price - silver |
($/oz) |
|
$ |
25.66 |
|
|
$ |
20.30 |
|
As reflected above, tons mined, ounces produced, ounces sold and
average realized prices increased during the year ended
December 31, 2021, compared with the same period of the prior
year due to higher tons mined in 2021. The average price increased
during the year ended December 31, 2021 consistent with the
increase in the spot price of gold compared with the same period of
the prior year. As planned for 2021, all mined ore was routed to
the leach pad as ROM and sulfide ore encountered was stockpiled.
Due to the ROM plan for 2021, the crusher did not operate during
the year.
Production and sales for the year ended 2021 increased over the
comparable 2020 period due to increased quantities of ROM ounces
placed during 2021. The gold and silver ounces produced in the year
ended December 31, 2021 resulted from continued leach
production of inventory ounces added to the leach pad in 2020,
additional ounces placed under leach from mining in 2021, higher
leach solution flows to the pad, and improved flows and recovery
performance from the Brimstone plant.
Results of Operations
Revenues
Gold revenue
The table below summarizes gold sales, ounces sold and average
realized prices for the following periods (dollars in thousands,
except per ounce amounts):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
Gold revenue |
$ |
100,532 |
|
|
$ |
44,279 |
|
Gold ounces sold |
56,045 |
|
|
24,892 |
|
Average realized price (per ounce) |
$ |
1,794 |
|
|
$ |
1,779 |
|
During the year ended December 31, 2021, gold revenue was
$100.5 million compared to $44.3 million for the comparable period
of 2020. The significant increase in revenue during 2021 was
attributable to the mine having more ore under leach as mining and
processing operations increased beginning in the second quarter of
2020, resulting in higher production-related inventory balances and
gold revenue during the year ended December 31, 2021. Gold
revenue was also adversely affected during the year ended
December 31, 2020 due to lower gold ounces available for sale
as a result of write-downs of recoverable gold ounces on the leach
pads (see
Note 4 - Inventories and Ore on Leach Pads
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial
Statements).
Silver revenue
The table below summarizes silver sales, ounces sold and average
realized prices for the following periods (dollars in thousands,
except per ounce amounts):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
Silver revenue |
$ |
10,202 |
|
|
$ |
2,765 |
|
Silver ounces sold |
397,546 |
|
|
136,238 |
|
Average realized price (per ounce) |
$ |
25.66 |
|
|
$ |
20.30 |
|
During the year ended December 31, 2021, silver revenue was
$10.2 million compared to $2.8 million for the comparable period of
2020. Similar to gold revenue, the increase in silver revenue
during 2021 was attributable to the mine having more ore under
leach as compared to the same 2020 period. During the year ended
December 31, 2021, we also benefited from favorable silver
prices, which were more than $5 per ounce higher compared to the
same period of 2020. Silver revenue was also adversely affected
during the year ended December 31, 2020 due to lower silver
ounces available for sale as a result of write-downs of recoverable
ounces on the leach pads.
Total cost of sales
Total cost of sales consists of
Production costs,
Depreciation and amortization, Mine site period
costs,
and
Write-down of inventories.
The table below summarizes total cost of sales for the following
periods (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
Production costs |
|
$ |
102,750 |
|
|
$ |
41,688 |
|
Depreciation and amortization |
|
8,544 |
|
|
2,894 |
|
Mine site period costs |
|
38,166 |
|
|
47,115 |
|
Write-down of inventories |
|
13,878 |
|
|
17,924 |
|
Total cost of sales |
|
$ |
163,338 |
|
|
$ |
109,621 |
|
Production costs
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized $102.8
million in
Production costs,
or $1,833 per ounce of gold sold, compared to $41.7 million or
$1,675 per ounce of gold sold during the same period of 2020. The
increase in
Production costs
was primarily due to a respective increase in the sales volumes of
gold and silver of 31,153 and 261,308 ounces sold, respectively, at
a higher average inventory cost per ounce during the year ended
December 31, 2021 compared to the same period of 2020. As
discussed in the below
Mine site period costs
section, throughout 2021 and 2020, a high operating cost structure
at current levels of production has resulted in
Mine site period costs
to adjust ending inventory values of gold that approximate the net
realizable value per ounce of gold (after considering future costs
to complete and sell) as determined in accordance with our
accounting policies. Accordingly, production costs per ounce of
gold sold has been partially limited by the impact of
recognizing
Mine site period costs,
which lowers the carrying value of production-related inventories.
Reductions in the spot price of gold at the reporting periods as
compared to prior reporting periods can result in additional
Mine site period costs.
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization
was $8.5 million, or $152 per ounce of gold sold, for the year
ended December 31, 2021 compared to $2.9 million, or $116 per
ounce of gold sold, during the same periods of 2020. The increase
in total depreciation and amortization costs per ounce of gold sold
was largely due to an increase of 31,153 gold ounces sold during
the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the same period
of 2020.
Mine site period costs
During the year ended December 31, 2021, inclusive of
depreciation and amortization, we recorded $38.2 million of
Mine site period costs
for costs that were in excess of the net realizable value per ounce
of gold inventories, compared to $47.1 million during the same
period of 2020. Such period costs are generally the result of costs
related to activities at the Hycroft Mine that do not qualify for
capitalization to production-related inventories or adjustments to
production inventories that are the result of recurring or
significant downtime or delays, unusually high levels of repairs,
inefficient operations, overuse of processing reagents, inefficient
cost-volume structures, or other unusual costs and activities, and
cannot be recorded to production-related inventories based on the
threshold established by the calculation of the estimated net
realizable value per ounce of gold.
Write-down of inventories
We recorded a
Write-down of inventories
of $13.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 related
to the following:
•A
write-down of the non-current portion of
Ore on leach pads
of $5.5 million for
Production costs
and $0.4 million of capitalized depreciation and amortization costs
related to 3,612 ounces of gold contained in the over liner
material on the new larger leach pad which the Company began
constructing in 2020. As the 2022 Hycroft TRS does not include
proven and probable reserves, it was determined that the
recoverability of these ounces is dependent upon additional work
and technical studies and, as a result, it was determined that the
ounces and related capitalized amounts should be
written-off.
•A
write-down of
Inventories
of $5.9 million for obsolete and slow moving materials and supplies
inventories. As a result of ceasing mining operations, it was
determined that certain materials and supplies were not expected to
be used in the next 12 months and, accordingly, a reserve was
placed against these items.
•A
loss of $2.1 million related to a firm purchase commitment for
crusher liners that the Company agreed to purchase under
consignment over a period of three years beginning in August 2020.
This loss relates to the unfulfilled commitment obligation and has
been reduced to reflect the Company's negotiated settlement with
the supplier.
As discussed in
Note 4 - Inventories and Ore on Leach Pads
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, based on
metallurgical balancing results, during the year ended
December 31, 2020, we determined that 10,492 ounces of gold
that had been placed on the leach pads were no longer recoverable
and recognized $17.9 million of
Write-down of inventories
on the Consolidated Statements of Operations, which included
production costs of $16.7 million, and capitalized depreciation and
amortization costs of $1.2 million, respectively.
General and administrative
General and administrative
totaled $14.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2021
compared to $21.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2020.
The decrease of $6.4 million during the year ended
December 31, 2021 was primarily due to decreases in: (i)
salary and compensation costs of $6.2 million; (ii) insurance costs
of $1.2 million; partially offset by increases in: (i) legal,
professional, and consulting fees associated with general corporate
matters and obligations as a public company of $0.4 million; and
(ii) director compensation for the members of our committees
created upon becoming a public company of $0.5
million.
Projects, exploration and development
During the year ended December 31, 2021,
Projects, exploration and development
costs totaled $13.6 million and were related to the following
activities: (i) analyzing established feasibility studies; (ii)
conducting geological studies; (iii) oversight and project
management; and (iv) exploration drilling, engineering, and
metallurgical activities. Upon determining that the 2019 Hycroft
TRS was not likely to be economic, we determined that previously
capitalized mine development costs related to the 2019 Hycroft TRS
no longer qualified for capitalization. As a result we recorded an
impairment charge of $6.7 million for the previously capitalized
amounts that was included in
Projects, exploration and development
during the year ended December 31, 2021. We did not incur any
such costs during the year ended December 31,
2020.
Write-off of deposit
During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company determined
that additional equipment was no longer expected to be purchased
under the current mine plan. Accordingly, a full reserve was
applied against the $0.9 million deposit previously paid by the
Company to an equipment supplier. Refer to
Note 5 - Prepaids and Other, Net
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further
detail.
Accretion
We recorded $0.4 million of
Accretion
during both of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020,
which related to our
Asset retirement obligation
and future reclamation costs. Refer to
Note 13 - Asset Retirement Obligation
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further
detail.
Interest expense, net of capitalized interest
As discussed and detailed in
Note 10 - Debt, Net
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements,
Interest expense, net of capitalized interest
totaled $20.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2021
compared to $43.5 million during the same period in 2020. The
decrease of $23.0 million during the year ended December 31,
2021 was a result of completing the Recapitalization Transaction on
May 29, 2020, which caused the exchange or conversion of the
majority of Seller's $627.8 million outstanding indebtedness to
equity, thus resulting in post-Recapitalization Transaction
indebtedness totaling $159.8 million for the Sprott Credit
Agreement and Subordinated Notes.
Fair value adjustments to warrants
During the year ended December 31, 2021, the
Fair value adjustments to warrants
resulted in a non-cash gain $14.4 million as the market trading
values of our publicly listed warrants decreased, which was
primarily due to a decrease in the underlying trading price of our
common shares. We did not incur any such warrant adjustment during
the year ended December 31, 2020. Refer to
Note 12 - Warrant Liabilities
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further
detail.
Interest income
Interest income
totaled approximately $Nil during the year ended
December 31, 2021 compared with $0.2 million during the
year ended December 31, 2020. During the second quarter of 2021,
the Company replaced certain surety bonds with new surety bonds
with lower cash collateral requirements, in which none of the
accounts holding the cash collateral earns interest income,
resulting in no
Interest income
for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Income taxes
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized an
income tax benefit of $1.5 million which was the result of the
Company carrying back its net operating losses to periods that the
Company paid income tax prior to the Recapitalization Transaction.
There was no income tax benefit or expense, net, recognized during
the year ended December 31, 2020. We have not recorded any future
income tax benefits for net losses generated after the completion
of the Recapitalization Transaction, due to a full valuation
allowance recorded against our net operating loss carryforward
earned after the Recapitalization Transaction. For additional
details, refer to
Note 17 - Income Taxes
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Net loss
For the reasons discussed above, we recorded a net loss of $88.6
million for the year ended December 31, 2021, respectively,
which included a gain from
Fair value adjustments to warrants
of $14.4 million, compared to a net loss of $136.4 million for the
year ended December 31, 2020.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
General
The Company's unrestricted cash position at
December 31, 2021 was $12.3 million as compared with
$56.4 million at December 31, 2020. While the Company
plans to continue processing gold and silver ore on the leach pads
after ceasing mining operations for the pre-commercial scale ROM
operation and partially offset the cash that is projected to be
used in operations and investing activities, we do not expect to
generate net positive cash for the foreseeable future. Accordingly,
we will be dependent on our unrestricted cash and other sources of
cash to fund our business.
As discussed in
Note 25 - Subsequent Events
in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements,
the Company raised gross proceeds of approximately
$194.4 million
in March 2022, before deduction of commissions and expenses,
through the following equity financings:
•On
March 14, 2022, the Company entered into the Subscription
Agreements with two private investors pursuant to which the Company
sold on March 15, 2022 an aggregate of 46,816,480 units, each unit
consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase
one share of common stock, at a purchase price of $1.193 per unit
for total gross proceeds of
$55.9 million.
•On
March 15, 2022, the Company implemented an at-the-market offering
program pursuant to which the Company has registered the offer and
sale from time to time of its common stock have an aggregate
offering price of up to $500.0 million of gross proceeds.
The Company terminated the ATM Program on March 25, 2022 and
announced that it had
sold 89,553,602 shares of common stock under the ATM Program and
generated aggregate gross proceeds before commissions and offering
expenses of approximately $138.6 million.
In addition, the Company will continue to evaluate alternatives to
raise additional capital necessary to fund the future development
of the Hycroft Mine and will continue to explore other strategic
initiatives to enhance stockholder value.
Historically, the Company has been dependent on various forms of
debt and equity financing to fund its business. While the Company
has been successful in the past raising funds through equity and
debt financings, no assurance can be given that additional
financing will be available to it in amounts sufficient to meet the
Company’s needs or on terms acceptable to the Company. In the event
that funds are not available, the Company may be required to
materially change its business plans.
To avoid potential non-compliance with the Sprott Credit Agreement,
the Company obtained a series of waivers and entered into
amendments to the Sprott Credit Agreement.
Please see
Debt Covenants
below and
Note 25 - Subsequent Events
in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for
information regarding additional waivers received and modifications
to the Sprott Credit Agreement.
Our future liquidity and capital resources management strategy
entails a disciplined approach to monitor the timing and depth of
any drilling, metallurgical and mineralogical studies and the
continuation of processing the remaining leach pad inventory while
attempting to remain in a position that allows us to respond to
changes in our business environment, such as a decrease in metal
prices or lower than forecasted future cash flows, and changes in
other factors beyond our control.
We have undertaken efforts aimed at managing our liquidity and
preserving our capital resources by, among other things: (i)
monitoring metal prices and the impacts (near-term and future) they
have on our business and cash flows; (ii) ceasing open pit mining
operations to reduce net cash outflows while continuing to process
leach pad inventory until such time as it is no longer economic;
(iii) reducing the size of our workforce to reflect the cessation
of mining operations; (iv) controlling our working capital and
managing
discretionary spending; (v) reviewing contractor usage and rental
agreements for more economic options, including termination of
certain agreements in accordance with their terms; (vi) decreasing
restricted cash balances that collateralize bonds, as available;
and (vii) planning the timing and amounts of capital expenditures
and drilling, metallurgical and mineralogical study costs at the
Hycroft Mine and deferring such items that are not expected to
benefit our near term operating plans. We have undertaken and
continue to undertake additional efforts to: (i) monetize non-core
assets and excess materials and supplies inventories; (ii) return
excess rental and leased equipment; (iii) sell certain uninstalled
grinding mills that are not expected to be needed for a future
milling operation; (iv) selling other uninstalled grinding mills if
the proceeds contribute to enhancing a future milling operation;
and (v) work with existing debt holders to adjust debt service
requirements. In addition, as of October 6, 2021, we entered into
an agreement with Randy Buffington, our former Chairman, President
and Chief Executive Officer to terminate $0.7 million in aggregate
future cash payments in exchange for the termination of the
remainder of his restrictive covenant of non-competition and
issuance of up to 275,000 shares of our common stock.
Cash and liquidity
We have placed substantially all of our cash in operating accounts
with a well-capitalized financial institution, thereby ensuring
balances remain readily available. Due to the nature of our
operations and the composition of our current assets, our
Cash,
Accounts receivable,
and metal in
Inventories
represent substantially all of our liquid assets on hand.
Additionally, we are provided with additional liquidity as ounces
are recovered from the
Ore on leach pads,
processed into finished goods, and sold at prevailing spot prices
to our customers.
The following table summarizes our projected sources of future
liquidity, as recorded within the Consolidated Financial Statements
(dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 31, 2021 |
|
December 31, 2020 |
Cash |
$ |
12,342 |
|
|
$ |
56,363 |
|
Accounts receivable |
— |
|
|
426 |
|
Metal in Inventories(1)
|
6,693 |
|
|
6,418 |
|
Ore on leach pads(2)
|
10,106 |
|
|
38,041 |
|
Total projected sources of future liquidity |
$ |
29,141 |
|
|
$ |
101,248 |
|
(1)Metal
in
Inventories,contained
approximately 3,849 recoverable ounces of gold that are expected to
be sold within the next nine months. Assuming a gold selling price
of $1,806 per ounce (the December 31, 2021 P.M. fix) and
excluding any proceeds from silver sales, the sale of all gold
ounces estimated to be recovered from our metal inventories would
provide us with $7.0 million of revenue.
See Note 4 - Inventories and Ore on Leach Pads
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for
additional information.
(2)The
current portion of
Ore on leach pads
contained approximately 7,130 ounces of gold that are expected to
be processed into finished goods and then sold within the next 12
months. Assuming a gold selling price of $1,806 per ounce (the
December 31, 2021 P.M. fix) and excluding any proceeds from
silver sales, the sale of all gold ounces estimated to be recovered
from our ore on leach pads would provide us with $12.9 million of
revenue.
See Note 4 - Inventories and Ore on Leach Pads
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for
additional information.
The year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended
December 31, 2020
The following table summarizes our sources and uses of cash
for the following periods (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
|
|
Net loss |
|
$ |
(88,564) |
|
|
$ |
(136,392) |
|
Net non-cash adjustments |
|
30,829 |
|
|
76,809 |
|
Net change in operating assets and liabilities |
|
20,697 |
|
|
(50,925) |
|
Net cash used in operating activities |
|
(37,038) |
|
|
(110,508) |
|
Net cash used in investing activities |
|
(6,873) |
|
|
(31,124) |
|
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities |
|
(5,494) |
|
|
188,705 |
|
Net (decrease) increase in cash |
|
(49,405) |
|
|
47,073 |
|
Cash and restricted cash, beginning of period |
|
96,040 |
|
|
48,967 |
|
Cash and restricted cash, end of period |
|
$ |
46,635 |
|
|
$ |
96,040 |
|
Cash used in operating activities
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we used $37.0 million
of cash in operating activities primarily attributable to a net
loss of $88.6 million, the cash impact of net loss was equal to
$57.7 million, and $20.7 million provided by working capital, which
included $29.0 million used to increase production-related
inventories. The largest non-cash items included in net income
during the year ended December 31, 2021 included
Impairment charges
of $17.3 million related to the
Write-down of inventories
and
Impairment on equipment not in use,
a $14.4 million gain from
Fair value adjustments to warrants
and
Non-cash portion of interest expense
of $16.8 million.
For the year ended December 31, 2020, we used $110.5 million
of cash for operating activities primarily attributable to a net
loss of $136.4 million, the cash impact of net loss was equal to
$59.6 million, and $50.9 million used for working capital,
including the operational ramp up following the 2019 restart of the
Hycroft Mine using a net $43.8 million to increase
production-related inventory balances. Cash outflows during the
year ended December 31, 2020 were partially offset by certain
non-cash expenses included in
Net loss,
including $38.8 million of non-cash interest expense and a $17.9
million
Write-down of inventories
Cash used in investing activities
For the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we used $6.9
million and $31.1 million, respectively, in investing activities.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, expenditures included
(i) $2.7 million for purchased equipment and refurbishments; (ii)
$2.5 million spent for the leach pad expansion project (which
excludes $0.7 million of capitalized interest) to complete
construction to the appropriate point in which we believe there
would be minimal risk of adverse impacts to the leach pad. For the
year ended December 31, 2020, the majority of the capital
expenditures related to construction of new leach pad
space.
Cash (used in) provided by financing activities
During the year ended December 31, 2021 we repaid $5.4 million
of the Additional Interest and principal which is classified as
debt under the terms of our Sprott Credit Agreement. Cash provided
by financing activities was $188.7 million for the year ended
December 31, 2020, which included proceeds from financing
instruments consummated in connection with the Recapitalization
Transaction of $254.8 million, offset by principal payments on debt
of $132.4 million and payments for legal and consulting fees
related to the Recapitalization Transaction of $16.1
million.
Future capital and cash requirements
The following table provides our gross contractual cash obligations
as of December 31, 2021, which are grouped in the same manner
as they were classified in the cash flows in order to provide a
better understanding of the nature of the obligations and to
provide a basis for comparison to historical information. We
believe the following provides the most meaningful presentation of
near-term obligations expected to be satisfied using current and
available sources of liquidity (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Payments Due by Period |
|
Total |
|
Less than
1 Year |
|
1 - 3
Years |
|
3 - 5
Years |
|
More than
5 Years |
|
|
Operating activities: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net smelter royalty(1)
|
$ |
241,229 |
|
|
$ |
229 |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
241,000 |
|
Remediation and reclamation expenditures(2)
|
70,100 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
70,100 |
|
Interest payments(3)
|
10,115 |
|
|
5,730 |
|
|
4,383 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
— |
|
Crofoot royalty(4)
|
4,630 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
4,630 |
|
Financing activities: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Repayments of debt principal(5)
|
209,676 |
|
|
15,157 |
|
|
56,594 |
|
|
137,925 |
|
|
— |
|
Additional interest payments(6)
|
7,699 |
|
|
2,200 |
|
|
5,499 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
Total |
$ |
543,449 |
|
|
$ |
23,316 |
|
|
$ |
66,476 |
|
|
$ |
137,927 |
|
|
$ |
315,730 |
|
(1)Under
the Sprott Royalty Agreement, we are required to pay a perpetual
royalty equal to 1.5% of the Net Smelter Returns from our Hycroft
Mine, payable monthly that also includes an additional amount for
withholding taxes payable by Sprott. Amounts presented above
incorporate estimates of our current life-of-mine plan, and are
based on consensus pricing for gold and silver. See
Note 11 - Deferred Gain on Sale of Royalty
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for
additional information.
(2)Mining
operations are subject to extensive environmental regulations in
the jurisdictions in which they are conducted and we are required,
upon cessation of operations, to reclaim and remediate the lands
that our operations have disturbed. The estimated undiscounted cash
outflows of these remediation and reclamation obligations are
reflected here. In the above presentation, no offset has been
applied for the $59.3 million of our reclamation bonds or for the
$34.3 million of cash collateral for those bonds included in
Restricted Cash.
See
Note 7 - Restricted Cash
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for
additional information.
(3)Under
the Sprott Credit Agreement, we were required to pay interest
beginning in the 13th month after the initial advance on May 29,
2020 to Sprott Private Resource Lending II (Collector),
LP.
(4)We
are required to pay a 4% net profits royalty, including advance
minimum royalty payments of $120,000 in any year where mining
occurs on the Crofoot claims and an additional minimum royalty of
$120,000 if tons mined from the Crofoot claim blocks exceed 5.0
million tons. See
Note 23 - Commitments and Contingencies
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. Amounts
shown represent our current estimates of cash payment timing using
consensus pricing for gold and silver.
(5)Repayments
of principal on debt consists of amounts due under the Sprott
Credit Agreement, the Subordinated Notes and notes payable for
equipment purchases. Included in the repayment of the Subordinated
Notes principal is interest that has been capitalized as payable
in-kind on a quarterly basis, and on a monthly basis for the
Sprott Credit Agreement for the first 12 months after the initial
advance.
(6)Additional
interest payments consist of repayments of additional interest
under the Sprott Credit Agreement, commencing February 28, 2021
(with the first cash payment due three months after such date) and
ending on the maturity date.
Debt covenants
Our debt agreements contain representations and warranties, events
of default, restrictions and limitations, reporting requirements,
and covenants that are customary for agreements of these
types.
The Sprott Credit Agreement contains covenants that, among other
things, restrict or limit the ability of the Company to enter into
encumbrances (other than Permitted Encumbrances), incur
indebtedness (other than Permitted Indebtedness), dispose of its
assets (other than Permitted Disposals), pay dividends, and
purchase or redeem shares, as such terms are defined in the Sprott
Credit Agreement. The Sprott Credit Agreement requires the Company
to ensure that, at all times, both its Working Capital and
Unrestricted Cash are at least $10.0 million (subsequently reduced
by the Waiver and Waiver Amendment discussed below), as such terms
are defined in the Sprott Credit Agreement, and that at least every
six months we demonstrate our ability to repay and meet all present
and future obligations as they become due with a financial Model
that uses consensus gold prices discounted by 5.0%, as such terms
are defined in the Sprott Credit Agreement. The Subordinated
Notes (as defined herein) include customary events of default,
including those relating to a failure to pay principal or interest,
a breach of a covenant, representation or warranty, a cross-default
to other indebtedness, and non-compliance with security documents.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company was in compliance with
all covenants under its debt agreements.
On November 9, 2021, we entered into the November 2021 Waiver with
Sprott Private Resource Lending II (Collector), LP (the “Lender”)
of certain provisions of the Sprott Credit Agreement. Pursuant to
the Waiver, the Lender has: (i) permitted the Company to cease
active mining operations; and (ii) to reduce the amount of
Unrestricted Cash required to be maintained by the Company from not
less than $10.0 million to not less than $9.0 million for the
period ending May 10, 2022.
Additionally, on February 28, 2022, we entered into the February
2022 Waiver and Amendment with the Lender of certain provisions of
the Sprott Credit Agreement and the November 2021 Waiver. Pursuant
to the February 2022 Waiver and Amendment, the Lender has (i)
waived the Company’s obligation under the Sprott Credit Agreement
to maintain at least $9.0 million of Unrestricted Cash on the last
day of each calendar month during the period ending May 10, 2022
(the “Waiver Period”), provided that, the Company maintains at
least $7.5 million of Unrestricted Cash on the last day of February
2022 and at least $9.0 million on the last day of each month
thereafter during the Waiver Period; (ii) waived all obligations of
the Company to prepay the facility with the net cash proceeds of
any Mill Asset Sales (as defined in the Waiver and Amendment) until
the earlier of (A) the date on which the Company completes a
private placement or other offering or issuance of its equity
securities (the “Offering Date”) and (B) March 31, 2022; and (iii)
extended the payment due date for the additional February interest
payment and the February principal payment pursuant to the Credit
Agreement until the earlier of (A) the Offering Date and (B) March
31, 2022. Further, pursuant to the February 2022 Waiver and
Amendment, any failure by the Company to comply with the terms of
the preceding sentence shall constitute an immediate Event of
Default under the Credit Agreement.
On March 11, 2022, the Company entered into the March 2022 Sprott
Agreement with the Lender with respect to the Sprott Credit
Agreement.
As described in the March 2022 Sprott Agreement, the Company was
contemplating the sale or issuance of its equity securities
pursuant to one or more transactions to be completed on or before
March 31, 2022 (the “Equity Financing Transactions”). Pursuant to
the March 2022 Sprott Agreement, if the Equity Financing
Transactions result (or are likely to result pursuant to definitive
subscription underwriting and/or similar legally binding
agreements) in the Company’s receipt of total gross cash proceeds
(before deduction of fees and expenses) of at least $50 million on
or before March 31, 2022 (the “Required Equity Amount”), the Lender
and the Company will amend the principal repayment terms under the
Credit Agreement such that no further scheduled payments of
principal shall be required prior to May 31, 2025 (the “Maturity
Date”) (i.e., there will be no required regular amortization
payments of the Facility (as defined in the Credit Agreement) and
the full principal balance of the Facility shall be due and payable
in a single “bullet” payment on the Maturity Date). The
consummation of the Private Placement Offering of Company
securities as described under “Private Placement” above satisfied
the condition in the March 2022 Sprott Agreement.
The March 2022 Sprott Agreement also provides that, in connection
with the modification of the required facility amortization
payments, the Company shall pay to the Lender an amount equal to
$3.3 million, with such payment to be capitalized and added to the
principal amount owing under the Sprott Credit Agreement and accrue
interest at the same rate and upon the same terms as the existing
loans under the Sprott Credit Agreement; provided, the payment or
prepayment of such capitalized principal amount shall not be
subject to the Prepayment Premium (as defined in the Sprott Credit
Agreement) or any other penalty or premium.
On March 14, 2022, the Company reached an agreement in principle
with the Lender with respect to the Sprott Credit Agreement to
modify the terms of the Sprott Credit Agreement and other
applicable loan documents. On March 30, 2022, the Company and
Lender under the Sprott Credit Agreement entered into the Second
A&R Agreement, which (a) extends the maturity date for all of
the loans and other principal obligations under the Sprott Credit
Facility by two years, to May 31, 2027; (b) provides for the
Company to prepay principal under the facility in the amount of
$10.0 million promptly upon the
Company’s receipt of cash proceeds from the Private Placement
offering with American Multi-Cinema, Inc. and 2176423 Ontario
Limited (the “Initial Equity Proceeds Prepayment”); (c) provides
for the Company to prepay principal under the Sprott Credit
Agreement in the amount of $13.9 million (representing 10% of the
subsequent issuance of its equity interests consummated on or prior
to March 31, 2022) (the “Subsequent Equity Proceeds Prepayments”);
and (d) eliminates the prepayment premiums otherwise payable with
respect to the Initial Equity Proceeds Prepayment, the Subsequent
Equity Proceeds Prepayments and all future prepayments of principal
under the Sprott Credit Facility. In addition, the Company’s
obligations to prepay principal with proceeds of asset sales will
be credited/offset by the aggregate amount of Initial Equity
Proceeds Prepayment and the Subsequent Equity Proceeds Prepayments
($23.9 million), and to maintain a minimum amount of Unrestricted
Cash (as defined in the Second A&R Agreement) is increased to
$15.0 million. The Company (i) paid the previously deferred
additional interest payment of $0.5 million, (ii) made the Initial
Equity Proceeds Prepayment of $10.0 million and paid in kind a $3.3
million fee in connection with the modification and capitalized it
to principal on March 16, 2022 and (iii) made the Subsequent Equity
Proceeds Prepayment of $13.9 million on March 30, 2022; and after
giving effect to such prepayments the outstanding principal balance
under the Sprott Credit Agreement is estimated to be $57.9 million
(before issuance discounts) including unpaid additional interest of
approximately $7.1 million.
Off-balance sheet arrangements
As of December 31, 2021, our off-balance sheet arrangements
consisted of a net profit royalty arrangement and a net smelter
royalty arrangement (see
Note 23 - Commitments and Contingencies
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial
Statements).
Accounting Developments
For a discussion of any recently issued and/or recently adopted
accounting pronouncements, see
Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Critical Accounting Estimates
MD&A is based on our Consolidated Financial Statements, that
have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of
these statements requires us to make assumptions and estimates
that affect the reported amounts. We base our assumptions
and estimates on historical experience and various other
sources that we believe to be reasonable at the time our estimates
are made. Actual results may differ from amounts estimated in these
statements, and such difference could be material. As such, future
events and their effects cannot be determined with
certainty.
Although other estimates are used in preparing our financial
statements, we believe that the following accounting estimates are
the most critical to understanding and evaluating our reported
financial results. For information on all of our significant
accounting policies, see Note
2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies to
the Notes to the Consolidated Financial
Statements.
Ore on leach pads
Estimate Required:
The recovery of gold and silver at the Hycroft Mine is currently
accomplished through a heap leach process, the nature of which
limits our ability to precisely determine the recoverable gold
ounces in
Ore on leach pads.
We estimate the quantity of recoverable gold ounces in ore on leach
pads using surveyed volumes of material, ore grades determined
through sampling and assaying of blastholes, and estimated recovery
rates based on ore type and domain and level of oxidation actually
achieved or expected to be achieved prior to leaching. The quantity
of recoverable gold ounces and recovery rates varies based on ore
mineralogy, steps in the leach process, ore grade, ore particle
sizes and the percentage of cyanide soluble gold. The estimated
recoverable gold ounces placed on the leach pads are periodically
reconciled by comparing the related ore to the actual gold ounces
recovered (metallurgical balancing). The ultimate recoverable gold
ounces or life-of-mine recovery rate is unknown until mining
operations cease. A change in the recovery rate or the quantity of
recoverable gold ounces in our stockpiles or ore on leach pads
could materially impact our financial statements.
Impact of Change in Estimate:
Changes in recovery rate estimates or estimated recoverable gold
ounces that do not result in write-downs are accounted for on a
prospective basis. If a write-down is required, ore on leach pads
would be adjusted to market values before prospectively accounting
for the remaining costs and revised estimated recoverable gold
ounces. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we did not
recognize any write-downs related to estimated ounces on our
in-service leach pads.
At December 31, 2021, if our estimate of recoverable gold
ounces on the leach pad decreased by 2.5% or 5.0%, recoverable
gold ounces in
Ore on leach pads
would decrease by approximately 178 ounces
or 357 ounces,
respectively, which would require a write-down of $0.3
million
or $0.5 million,
respectively, of our
Ore on leach pads
costs before prospectively accounting for the remaining costs. A
2.5% or 5.0% increase to our estimate of recoverable gold ounces
in
Ore on leach pads
would increase the estimated recoverable ounces by the
aforementioned amounts and would not result in a change to our
weighted average cost per ounce.
Impairment of long-lived assets
Estimate Required:
Our long-lived assets consist of
Plant, equipment, and mine development, net.
We review and evaluate our long-lived assets for impairment when
events or changes in circumstances indicate that the related
carrying amounts may not be recoverable. Events that may trigger a
test for recoverability include, but are not limited to,
significant adverse changes to projected revenues, costs, or future
expansion plans or changes to federal and state regulations (with
which we must comply) that may adversely impact our current or
future operations. An impairment is determined to exist if the
total projected future cash flows on an undiscounted basis are less
than the carrying amount of a long-lived asset group. An impairment
loss is measured and recorded based on the excess carrying value of
the impaired long-lived asset group over fair value.
To determine fair value, we used a
market-based approach for determining fair value based on sales
transactions of comparable assets. Assets
are grouped at the lowest level for which there are identifiable
cash flows that are largely independent of future cash flows from
other asset groups. Our estimates of future cash flows from the
potential sale of our assets are based on numerous assumptions that
are consistent or reasonable in relation to transactions occurring
in the market and actual future cash flows may be significantly
different than the estimates as each are each subject to
significant risks and uncertainties.
Impact of Change in Estimate:
The estimates and assumptions used to determine the fair value of
our long-lived assets as of December 31, 2021 were
based
sales transactions of comparable assets.
We compared the estimated $162.0 million estimated fair value,
after allocating the fair value to other assets and liabilities, to
the carrying value of our
Plant, equipment, and mine development, net
of $58.5 million, and given the large
surplus between the estimated fair value of the Company and
the carrying value of our
Plant, equipment, and mine development, net
a change in the estimates used in the mark-based approach would be
unlikely to result in an impairment as of December 31,
2021.
Asset retirement obligation ("ARO")
Estimate Required:
We will be required to perform reclamation activity at the Hycroft
Mine in the future. As a result of this requirement, an ARO has
been recorded on our consolidated balance sheets that is based
on our expectation of the costs that will be incurred years in
the future. Any underestimate or unanticipated reclamation costs or
any changes in governmental reclamation requirements could require
us to record or incur additional reclamation costs. ARO liabilities
are accrued when they become known, are probable and can be
reasonably estimated. Whenever a previously unrecognized ARO
liability becomes known, or a previously estimated reclamation cost
is increased, the amount of that liability and additional cost will
be recorded at that time and could materially reduce our
consolidated net income attributable to stockholders.
Impact of Change in Estimate:
Based on our current proposed 34-year mine plan set forth in the
2019 Hycroft TRS, which we believe remains the best estimate for
the life of mine, no significant reclamation activity will be made
until 2047. However, if the significant reclamation activity were
to begin in 2042 or 2045 our reclamation liability would
increase by approximately
$1.9 million and approximately $0.7 million,
respectively.
Warrant liability
Estimate Required:
We account for the 5-Year Private Warrants to purchase shares of
our common stock that are not indexed to our own stock as
liabilities at fair value on the balance sheet. The warrants are
subject to remeasurement at each balance sheet date, and any change
in fair value is recognized as a component of Other income
(expense), net on the statement of operations. We will continue to
adjust the liability for changes in fair value of the 5-Year
Private Warrants until the earlier of the (i) exercise or
expiration of the 5-Year Private Warrants or (ii) the transfer of
any 5-Year Private Warrants to any person who is not a permitted
transferee, at which time the applicable warrant liability will be
extinguished. The terms of the 5-Year Private Warrants are
substantially identical to the 5-Year Public Warrants except the
5-Year Private Warrants, while held by the SPAC sponsor and/or SPAC
underwriter and their permitted transferees, are precluded from
mandatory redemption and are entitled to exercise on a cashless
bases at the holder’s election. Accordingly, we use a Black-Scholes
model with an appropriate estimate of volatility considering
volatility of the 5-Year Public Warrants and using a Monte Carlo
simulation model to incorporate the redemption and cashless
exercise features in the 5-Year Private Warrants. Increases
(decreases) in the assumptions result in a directionally similar
impact to the fair value of the warrant liability.
Impact of Change in Estimate:
A $0.01 increase or decrease in the fair value estimate of 5-Year
Private Warrants would increase or decrease the warrant liability,
by
$0.1 million
with the offset in Other income (expense).
ITEM 7A.
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET
RISK
As the Company qualifies as smaller reporting company under Item
10(f) of Regulation S-K, quantitative and qualitative disclosures
about market risk are not required, and such are omitted from this
filing.
ITEM I. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page |
Consolidated Financial Statements |
|
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, PCAOB ID
166
|
|
Consolidated Balance Sheets
|
|
Consolidated Statements of Operations |
|
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows |
|
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
(Deficit) |
|
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements |
|
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors
Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of
Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation (the “Company”) as of December
31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of
operations, stockholders' equity (deficit), and cash flows for each
of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2021; and
the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated
financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial
statements referred to above present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31,
2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows
for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31,
2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted
in the United States of America.
Emphasis of Matter
As discussed in Notes 2 and 25 to the consolidated financial
statements, the Company entered into significant financing
transactions subsequent to December 31, 2021. Our opinion is not
modified with respect to this matter.
Basis for Opinion
The Company's management is responsible for these consolidated
financial statements. Our responsibility is to express an opinion
on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our
audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the “PCAOB”)
and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in
accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable
rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and
the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the
PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated
financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due
to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we
engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial
reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an
understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not
for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of
the Company's internal control over financial reporting.
Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of
material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements,
whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that
respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a
test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the
consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included
evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates
made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation
of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our
audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Plante & Moran, PLLC
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2015.
Southfield, Michigan
March 30, 2022
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 31,
2021 |
|
December 31,
2020 |
|
|
|
|
Assets: |
|
|
|
Cash |
$ |
12,342 |
|
|
$ |
56,363 |
|
Accounts receivable |
— |
|
|
426 |
|
Income tax receivable - Note 17 |
1,530 |
|
|
— |
|
Inventories - Note 4 |
11,069 |
|
|
12,867 |
|
Ore on leach pads - Note 4 |
10,106 |
|
|
38,041 |
|
Prepaids and other, net - Note 5 |
2,342 |
|
|
4,303 |
|
Current assets |
37,389 |
|
|
112,000 |
|
Ore on leach pads - Note 4 |
— |
|
|
7,243 |
|
Plant, equipment, and mine development, net - Note 6 |
58,484 |
|
|
60,223 |
|
Restricted cash - Note 7 |
34,293 |
|
|
39,677 |
|
Other assets - Note 5 |
600 |
|
|
13,483 |
|
Assets held for sale - Note 8 |
11,558 |
|
— |
Total assets |
$ |
142,324 |
|
|
$ |
232,626 |
|
Liabilities: |
|
|
|
Accounts payable and accrued expenses |
$ |
9,430 |
|
|
$ |
12,280 |
|
Debt, net - Notes 10, 20 and 25 |
16,666 |
|
|
5,120 |
|
Deferred gain on sale of royalty - Note 11 |
125 |
|
|
124 |
|
Other liabilities - Note 9 |
5,044 |
|
|
4,157 |
|
Current liabilities |
31,265 |
|
|
21,681 |
|
Warrant liabilities - Notes 12 and 20 |
669 |
|
|
15,389 |
|
Debt, net - Notes 10, 20 and 25 |
143,638 |
|
|
142,665 |
|
Deferred gain on sale of royalty - Note 11 |
29,714 |
|
|
29,839 |
|
Asset retirement obligation - Note 13 |
5,193 |
|
|
4,785 |
|
Other liabilities - Note 9 |
339 |
|
|
1,650 |
|
Total liabilities |
$ |
210,818 |
|
|
$ |
216,009 |
|
Commitments and contingencies - Note 23 |
|
|
|
Stockholders' (deficit) equity - Note 14:
|
|
|
|
Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 400,000,000 shares authorized;
60,433,395 issued and outstanding at
December 31, 2021; and 59,901,306 issued and
outstanding at December 31, 2020
|
$ |
6 |
|
|
$ |
6 |
|
Additional paid-in capital |
540,823 |
|
|
537,370 |
|
Accumulated deficit |
(609,323) |
|
|
(520,759) |
|
Total stockholders' (deficit) equity |
(68,494) |
|
|
16,617 |
|
Total liabilities and stockholders' (deficit) equity |
$ |
142,324 |
|
|
$ |
232,626 |
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated
financial statements.
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
Revenues - Note 15 |
|
$ |
110,734 |
|
|
$ |
47,044 |
|
Cost of sales: |
|
|
|
|
Production costs |
|
102,750 |
|
|
41,688 |
|
Depreciation and amortization |
|
8,544 |
|
|
2,894 |
|
Mine site period costs - Note 2 |
|
38,166 |
|
|
47,115 |
|
Write-down of inventories - Note 4 |
|
13,878 |
|
|
17,924 |
|
Total cost of sales |
|
163,338 |
|
|
109,621 |
|
Operating expenses: |
|
|
|
|
General and administrative |
|
14,619 |
|
|
21,084 |
|
Projects, exploration and development |
|
13,587 |
|
|
— |
|
Write-off of deposit - Note 5 |
|
916 |
|
|
— |
|
Accretion - Note 13 |
|
408 |
|
|
374 |
|
Impairment on equipment not in use - Notes 5 and 8 |
|
1,777 |
|
|
5,331 |
|
Loss from operations |
|
(83,911) |
|
|
(89,366) |
|
Other expenses: |
|
|
|
|
Interest expense, net of capitalized interest - Note 10 |
|
(20,593) |
|
|
(43,458) |
|
Fair value adjustment to warrants - Notes 12 and 20 |
|
14,426 |
|
|
(3,767) |
|
Loss on sale of equipment |
|
(16) |
|
|
— |
|
Interest income |
|
— |
|
|
199 |
|
Loss before income taxes |
|
$ |
(90,094) |
|
|
$ |
(136,392) |
|
Income tax benefit - Note 17 |
|
1,530 |
|
|
— |
|
Net loss |
|
$ |
(88,564) |
|
|
$ |
(136,392) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss per share: |
|
|
|
|
Basic - Note 18 |
|
$ |
(1.47) |
|
|
$ |
(3.92) |
|
Diluted - Note 18 |
|
$ |
(1.47) |
|
|
$ |
(3.92) |
|
Weighted average shares outstanding: |
|
|
|
|
Basic - Note 18 |
|
60,101,499 |
|
|
34,833,211 |
|
Diluted - Note 18 |
|
60,101,499 |
|
|
34,833,211 |
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated
financial statements.
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(dollars in thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
Cash flows used in operating activities: |
|
|
|
Net loss |
$ |
(88,564) |
|
|
$ |
(136,392) |
|
Adjustments to reconcile net loss for the period to net cash used
in operating activities: |
|
|
|
Non-cash portion of interest expense |
16,812 |
|
|
38,843 |
|
Non-cash (gain) loss on fair value adjustment for warrant
liabilities - Note 12 |
(14,426) |
|
|
3,767 |
|
Depreciation and amortization |
8,429 |
|
|
5,849 |
|
Stock-based compensation - Note 16 |
2,264 |
|
|
2,380 |
|
Accretion - Note 13 |
408 |
|
|
374 |
|
Salary continuation and compensation costs - Note 9 |
— |
|
|
2,116 |
|
Impairment charges and write-downs |
17,326 |
|
|
23,255 |
|
Loss on sale of equipment |
16 |
|
|
— |
|
Phantom share compensation |
— |
|
|
225 |
|
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
|
|
|
Accounts receivable |
426 |
|
|
(329) |
|
Income tax receivable |
(1,530) |
|
|
— |
|
Production-related inventories |
29,015 |
|
|
(43,756) |
|
Materials and supplies inventories |
(6,186) |
|
|
(3,891) |
|
Prepaids and other assets, net |
1,690 |
|
|
(2,946) |
|
Accounts payable and accrued expenses |
(2,851) |
|
|
372 |
|
Other liabilities |
133 |
|
|
443 |
|
Interest payable |
— |
|
|
(818) |
|
Net cash used in operating activities |
(37,038) |
|
|
(110,508) |
|
Cash flows used in investing activities: |
|
|
|
Additions to plant, equipment, and mine development |
(6,990) |
|
|
(33,439) |
|
Proceeds from sales of equipment |
117 |
|
|
2,315 |
|
Net cash used in investing activities |
(6,873) |
|
|
(31,124) |
|
Cash flows (used in) provided by financing activities: |
|
|
|
Principal payments on Sprott Credit Agreement |
(5,405) |
|
|
(1,158) |
|
Principal payments on finance leases |
(89) |
|
|
— |
|
Proceeds from Public Offering |
— |
|
|
83,515 |
|
Proceeds from private placement - Note 3 |
— |
|
|
75,963 |
|
Proceeds from Sprott Credit Agreement - Notes 3 and 10 |
— |
|
|
68,600 |
|
Proceeds from Sprott Royalty Agreement - Notes 3 and 11 |
— |
|
|
30,000 |
|
Proceeds from forward purchase contract - Note 3 |
— |
|
|
25,000 |
|
Proceeds from Recapitalization Transaction - Note 3 |
— |
|
|
10,419 |
|
Proceeds from 1.25 Lien Note Issuances - Note 3 |
— |
|
|
44,841 |
|
Proceeds from warrant exercise - Note 12 |
— |
|
|
1 |
|
Repayment of First Lien Agreement - Note 3 |
— |
|
|
(125,468) |
|
Transaction and issuance costs - Note 3 |
— |
|
|
(16,094) |
|
Repayment of Promissory Note - Note 3 |
— |
|
|
(6,914) |
|
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities |
(5,494) |
|
|
188,705 |
|
Net (decrease) increase in cash and restricted cash |
(49,405) |
|
|
47,073 |
|
Cash and restricted cash, beginning of period |
96,040 |
|
|
48,967 |
|
Cash and restricted cash, end of period |
$ |
46,635 |
|
|
$ |
96,040 |
|
Reconciliation of cash and restricted cash: |
|
|
|
Cash |
$ |
12,342 |
|
|
$ |
56,363 |
|
Restricted cash |
34,293 |
|
|
39,677 |
|
Total cash and restricted cash |
$ |
46,635 |
|
|
$ |
96,040 |
|
See
Note 21 - Supplemental Cash Flow Information
for additional details.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated
financial statements.
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
(DEFICIT)
(dollars in thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Common Stock(1)
|
|
Treasury Stock(1)
|
|
Additional
Paid-in
Capital(1)
|
|
Accumulated
Deficit |
|
Total
Stockholders'
(Deficit)
Equity |
|
Shares |
|
Amount |
|
Shares |
|
Amount |
|
|
|
January 1, 2020 |
345,431 |
|
|
— |
|
|
22,103 |
|
|
— |
|
|
5,187 |
|
|
(444,438) |
|
|
(439,251) |
|
Conversion of Seller's 2.0 Lien Notes to common shares of Seller
and distribution of HYMC common stock(2) |
14,795,153 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
(22,103) |
|
|
— |
|
|
146,217 |
|
|
74,640 |
|
|
220,859 |
|
Exchange of Seller's 1.5 Lien Notes for HYMC common
stock |
16,025,316 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
160,252 |
|
|
(14,569) |
|
|
145,685 |
|
Common shares issued in private placement |
7,596,309 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
75,962 |
|
|
— |
|
|
75,963 |
|
Exchange of Seller's 1.25 Lien Notes for HYMC common
stock |
4,845,920 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
48,459 |
|
|
— |
|
|
48,459 |
|
Shares issued pursuant to forward purchase agreement with SPAC
sponsor, including conversion of Class B shares, less fair value of
5-year Private Warrants |
4,813,180 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
12,814 |
|
|
— |
|
|
12,814 |
|
Unredeemed SPAC shares of MUDS public stockholders |
1,197,704 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
3,723 |
|
|
— |
|
|
3,723 |
|
Common shares issued pursuant to Sprott Credit
Agreement |
496,634 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
6,282 |
|
|
— |
|
|
6,282 |
|
Common shares issued to underwriter |
44,395 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
444 |
|
|
— |
|
|
444 |
|
Vesting of restricted stock(3) |
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
1,802 |
|
|
— |
|
|
1,802 |
|
Equity issuance costs |
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
(8,255) |
|
|
— |
|
|
(8,255) |
|
Shares issued |
101 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
1 |
|
|
— |
|
|
1 |
|
Stock-based compensation costs |
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
388 |
|
|
— |
|
|
388 |
|
Private Warrants transferred to Public Warrants(4)
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
581 |
|
|
— |
|
|
581 |
|
Shares issued pursuant to Public Offering |
9,583,334 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
83,513 |
|
|
— |
|
|
83,514 |
|
Shares issued under stock-based compensation program |
157,829 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
Net loss |
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
(136,392) |
|
|
(136,392) |
|
Balance at December 31, 2020 |
59,901,306 |
|
|
6 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
537,370 |
|
|
(520,759) |
|
|
16,617 |
|
(1)Retroactively
restated January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2020 for the reverse
recapitalization as described in
Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,
and the restated reclassification of the Company's 5-Year Private
Warrants as described in
Note 12 - Warrant Liabilities.
(2)Includes
3,511,820 shares of HYMC common stock received by Seller that were
surrendered by the Company.
(3)As
of December 31, 2021 there were 21,256 unissued shares
underlying restricted stock units that had vested but have not been
converted into issued and outstanding shares of common
stock.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Common Stock(1) |
|
Treasury Stock(1) |
|
Additional
Paid-in
Capital(1)
|
|
Accumulated
Deficit |
|
Total
Stockholders'
(Deficit)
Equity |
|
Shares |
|
Amount |
|
Shares |
|
Amount |
|
|
|
January 1, 2021 |
59,901,306 |
|
|
$ |
6 |
|
|
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
537,370 |
|
|
$ |
(520,759) |
|
|
16,617 |
|
Stock-based compensation costs |
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
2,185 |
|
|
— |
|
|
2,185 |
|
Vesting of restricted stock units |
394,589 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
765 |
|
|
— |
|
|
765 |
|
Stock issuance - other - Note 9 |
137,500 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
209 |
|
|
— |
|
|
209 |
|
5-Year Private Warrants transferred to 5-Year Public
Warrants |
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
294 |
|
|
— |
|
|
294 |
|
Net loss |
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
(88,564) |
|
|
(88,564) |
|
Balance at December 31, 2021 |
60,433,395 |
|
$ |
6 |
|
|
— |
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
540,823 |
|
|
$ |
(609,323) |
|
|
$ |
(68,494) |
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated
financial statements.
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
1. Company Overview
Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation (formerly known as Mudrick
Capital Acquisition Corporation ("MUDS")) and its subsidiaries
(collectively, “Hycroft”, the “Company”, “we”, “us”, “our”, "it",
"HYMC") is a U.S.-based gold and silver company that is focused on
operating and developing its wholly owned Hycroft Mine in a
safe, environmentally responsible, and cost-effective manner. The
Hycroft Mine is located in the State of Nevada and the corporate
office is located in Denver, Colorado.
The Company restarted pre-commercial scale open pit mining
operations at the Hycroft Mine during the second quarter of 2019
and began producing and selling gold and silver during the third
quarter of 2019. The Company's operating plan until November 2021
was primarily focused on developing the novel two-stage heap
oxidation and leach process ("Novel Process") detailed in the
Hycroft Technical Report Summary, Heap Leaching Feasibility Study,
prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Modernization
Rules, with an effective date of July 31, 2019 ("2019 Hycroft
TRS"). Subsequent to November 2021, the Company's operating plan
has been focused on advancing evaluations and developing technical
studies for milling sulfide ore so that the Company can evaluate
alternative processing technologies. Based upon the Company's
findings in 2021, including an analysis completed by an independent
third-party research laboratory and independent reviews by two
metallurgical consultants, the Company does not believe the Novel
Process, as currently designed in the 2019 Hycroft TRS, is economic
at current metal prices or those metal prices used in the 2019
Hycroft TRS. Additionally, as announced on November 10, 2021, as a
result of current and expected ongoing cost pressures for many of
the reagents and consumables used at the Hycroft Mine, and the
timeline for completing the updated technical studies in early
2022, the Company discontinued pre-commercial scale mining at its
ROM operation. The Company will continue producing gold and silver
from ore on the leach pads as long as it is economic and will
right-size the workforce to meet ongoing operational requirements.
In February 2022, Hycroft, along with its third-party consultants,
completed and filed the Initial Assessment Technical Report Summary
for the Hycroft Mine ("2022 Hycroft TRS") which included a mineral
resource estimate utilizing a milling and acid pressure oxidation
("Acid POX") process for sulfide mineralization and heap leaching
process for oxide and transition mineralization. The Company will
continue to build on the work to date and investigate opportunities
identified through progressing the technical and data analyses
leading up to the 2022 Hycroft TRS and will provide an updated
technical report at an appropriate time.
On May 29, 2020, the Company consummated the Recapitalization
Transaction (as defined below) as contemplated by a purchase
agreement dated January 13, 2020, as amended on February 26, 2020
(the “Purchase Agreement”), by and among the Company, MUDS
Acquisition Sub, Inc. (“Acquisition Sub”) and Hycroft Mining
Corporation ("Seller"). Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement,
Acquisition Sub acquired all of the issued and outstanding equity
interests of the direct subsidiaries of Seller and substantially
all of the other assets of Seller and assumed substantially all of
the liabilities of Seller in a business combination and reverse
recapitalization transaction (the "Recapitalization Transaction").
See
Note 3 - Recapitalization Transaction
for further details.
2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of presentation
These consolidated financial statements of the Company have been
prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting
principles (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
Recapitalization Transaction
The Recapitalization Transaction (see
Note 3 - Recapitalization Transaction)
was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with
GAAP. Under this method of accounting, for financial reporting
purposes, MUDS has been treated as the “acquired” company and
Hycroft Mining Corporation (“Seller”) has been treated as the
“acquirer”. This determination was primarily based on (1)
stockholders of Seller immediately prior to the Recapitalization
Transaction having a relative majority of the voting power of
the combined entity; (2) the operations of Seller prior to the
Recapitalization Transaction comprising the only ongoing operations
of the combined entity; (3) four of the seven members of the
Board of Directors immediately following the Recapitalization
Transaction were directors of Seller immediately prior to the
Recapitalization Transaction; and (4) executive and senior
management of Seller comprises the same for the
Company.
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Based on Seller being the accounting acquirer, the financial
statements of the combined entity represent a continuation of the
financial statements of Seller, with the acquisition treated as the
equivalent of Seller issuing stock for the net assets of MUDS,
accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of MUDS were
recognized at historical cost as of the date of the
Recapitalization Transaction, with no goodwill or other intangible
assets recorded. Comparative information prior to the
Recapitalization Transaction in these financial statements are
those of Seller and the accumulated deficit of Seller has been
carried forward after the Recapitalization Transaction. The
shares and net loss per common share prior to the
Recapitalization Transaction have
been retroactively restated as shares reflecting the exchange ratio
established in the Recapitalization Transaction to effect the
reverse recapitalization (1 Seller share for 0.112 HYMC share).
See
Note 3 - Recapitalization Transaction
for additional information.
Liquidity
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had available cash
on hand of $12.3 million and working capital of $6.1 million
which, along with additional funds received subsequent to year-end,
is expected to provide it with the necessary liquidity to fund its
operating and investing requirements and future obligations as they
become due within the next twelve months from the date of this
filing.
While the Company expects to continue processing gold and silver
ore on the leach pads after ceasing mining operations for the
pre-commercial scale ROM operation and partially offset the cash
that is projected to be used in its operations and investing
activities, the Company does not expect to generate net positive
cash from operations for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the
Company will be dependent on its unrestricted cash and other
sources of cash to fund its business. As discussed in
Note 25 - Subsequent Events,
the Company raised gross proceeds of
$194.4 million
in March 2022 through the following equity financings:
•On
March 14, 2022, the Company entered into subscription agreements
with two private investors pursuant to which the Company agreed to
sell an aggregate of 46,816,480 units at a purchase price of $1.193
per unit for total net proceeds of $55.9 million.
•On
March 15, 2022, the Company implemented an at-the-market offering
program pursuant to which the Company has registered the offer and
sale from time to time of its common stock having an aggregate
offering price of up to $500.0 million of gross proceeds.
Under the at-the-market offering, the Company sold
89,553,602 shares of common stock for net proceeds of
$138.6 million.
Also, as discussed in
Note 25 - Subsequent Events,
as a result of the equity financings above, the Company reached an
agreement with the Lender (as hereinafter defined) with respect to
the Sprott Credit Agreement which required the Company to prepay
principal under the facility in the amount of $10.0 million
following the Company’s receipt of the $55.9 million cash
proceeds discussed above. In addition, the Company made the
additional prepayment of $13.9 million on March 30,
2022.
In addition to the above equity financings, the Company will
continue to evaluate alternatives to raise additional capital
necessary to fund the future development of the Hycroft Mine and
will continue to explore other strategic initiatives to enhance
stockholder value.
Historically, the Company has been dependent on various forms of
debt and equity financing to fund its business. While the Company
has been successful in the past raising funds through equity and
debt financings, no assurance can be given that additional
financing will be available to it in amounts sufficient to meet the
Company’s needs or on terms acceptable to the Company. In the event
that funds are not available, the Company may be required to
materially change its business plans.
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Use of estimates
The preparation of the
Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP
requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect
amounts reported in these financial statements and accompanying
notes. The more significant areas requiring the use of management
estimates and assumptions relate to: recoverable gold and silver
ounces on stockpiles, leach pads and in-process inventories; timing
of near-term ounce production and related sales; the useful lives
of long-lived assets; probabilities of future expansion projects;
estimates of mineral resources; estimates of life-of-mine
production timing, volumes, costs and prices; current and
future mining and processing plans; environmental
reclamation and closure costs and timing; deferred taxes and
related valuation allowances; estimates of the fair value of
liability classified warrants, and estimates of fair value for
asset impairments and financial instruments. The Company bases its
estimates on technical analyses and measurements, historical
experience and various other assumptions that are believed to be
reasonable at the time the estimate is made. Actual results may
differ from amounts estimated in these financial statements, and
such differences could be material. Accordingly, amounts
presented in these financial statements are not indicative of
results that may be expected for future periods.
Cash
Cash consisted of cash balances as of December 31, 2021. The
Company has not experienced any losses on cash balances and
believes that no significant risk of loss exists with respect to
its cash. As of December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020,
the Company held no cash equivalents.
Restricted cash
Restricted cash is held as collateral for surety bonds that the
Company uses to fulfill financial assurance obligations related to
reclamation activity (see
Note 13 - Asset Retirement Obligation
for further detail.) Restricted cash is excluded from cash and is
listed separately on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of
December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020, the
Company held $34.3 million and $39.7 million in
restricted cash, respectively. See
Note 7 - Restricted Cash
for additional information.
Accounts receivable
Accounts receivable consists of amounts due from customers for gold
and silver sales. The Company evaluates the customers’ credit risk,
payment history and financial condition to determine whether
an allowance for doubtful accounts is necessary. The Company did
not have accounts receivable amounts outstanding as of
December 31, 2021 and the Company did not have a recorded
allowance for doubtful accounts as of December 31,
2020.
Inventories and Ore on Leach Pads
The Company’s production-related inventories include: (i)
stockpiles; (ii) ore on leach pads; (iii) in-process inventories;
and (iv) doré, off-site carbon and slag finished goods.
Production-related inventories are carried at the lower of average
cost or net realizable value per estimated recoverable gold ounce,
which is computed for each category of production-related
inventories at each reporting period.
Net realizable value represents the estimated future gold revenue
of production-related inventories after adjusting for silver
by-product revenue and deductions for further processing, refining,
and selling costs. The estimated future revenue is calculated using
sales prices based on the London Bullion Market Association’s
(“LBMA”) quoted period-end gold prices. Estimates for silver
revenue by-products credits is based on LBMA quoted period-end
silver prices and deductions for estimated costs to complete
reflect the Company’s historical experience and expected
processing, refining and selling plans. Actual net realizable
values for gold sales may be different from such estimates. Changes
to inputs and estimates resulting from changes in facts and
circumstances are recognized as a change in management estimate on
a prospective basis.
Stockpiles
Stockpiles represent ore that has been extracted from the mine and
is available for further processing. Stockpiles are subject to
oxidation over time which can impact expected future recoveries
depending on the process recovery method. The value of the
stockpiles is measured by estimating the number of tons added and
removed from the stockpiles, the number of contained ounces based
on assay data, and the estimated metallurgical recovery rates based
on the expected processing method. Costs are added to the value of
the stockpiles based on current mining costs, including applicable
overhead and depreciation and amortization relating to the
Company's mining operations.
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Ore on leach pads
Ore on leach pads represents ore that has been mined and placed on
leach pads where a solution is applied to dissolve the contained
gold and silver. Costs are added to ore on leach pads based on
current mining costs, including reagents, leaching supplies, and
applicable depreciation and amortization relating to mining
operations. As gold-bearing materials are further processed, costs
are transferred from ore on leach pads to in-process inventories at
an average cost per estimated recoverable ounce of
gold.
Although the quantities of recoverable metal placed on the leach
pads are reconciled by comparing the grades of ore placed on pads
to the quantities of metal actually recovered (metallurgical
balancing), the nature of the leaching process inherently limits
the ability to precisely monitor inventory levels. As a result, the
metallurgical balancing process is constantly monitored, and
estimates are refined based on actual results over time and changes
in future estimates.
In-process inventories
In-process inventories represent gold-bearing concentrated
materials that are in the process of being converted to a saleable
product using a Merrill-Crowe plant or carbon-in-column processing
method. As gold ounces are recovered from in-process inventories,
costs, including conversion costs are transferred to precious
metals inventory at an average cost per ounce of gold.
Precious metals inventory
Precious metals inventory consists of doré and loaded carbon
containing both gold and silver, which is ready for offsite
shipment or at a third-party refiner before being sold to a third
party. As gold ounces are sold, costs are recognized in
Production costs
and
Depreciation and amortization
in the consolidated statements of operations at an average cost per
gold ounce sold.
Materials and supplies
Materials and supplies are valued at the lower of average cost or
net realizable value. Cost includes applicable taxes and freight.
The Company monitors its materials and supplies for turnover and
obsolescence and records losses for excess and obsolete inventory,
as appropriate.
Plant, equipment, and mine development, net
Expenditures for new facilities and equipment, and expenditures
that extend the useful lives or increase the capacity of existing
facilities or equipment are capitalized and recorded at cost. Such
costs are depreciated using either the straight-line method over
the estimated productive lives of such assets or the
units-of-production method (when actively operating). For equipment
and facilities that are constructed by the Company, interest is
capitalized to the cost of the underlying asset while being
constructed until such asset is ready for its intended use.
See
Note 6 - Plant, Equipment, and Mine Development, Net
for additional information.
Mine development
Mine development costs include the cost of engineering and
metallurgical studies, drilling and assaying costs to delineate an
ore body, environmental permitting costs, and the building of
infrastructure. Any of the above costs incurred before
mineralization is classified as proven and probable mineral
reserves are expensed.
Drilling, engineering, metallurgical, and other related costs are
capitalized for an ore body where proven and probable reserves
exist and the activities are directed at obtaining additional
information on the ore body, converting non-reserve mineralization
to proven and probable mineral reserves, infrastructure planning,
or supporting the environmental impact statement and permitting
activities. All other exploration drilling costs are expensed as
incurred. Drilling costs incurred during the production phase for
operational ore control are allocated to production-related
inventories and upon the sale of gold ounces are included
in
Cost of sales
on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Mine development costs are amortized using the units-of-production
method based upon estimated recoverable ounces in proven and
probable mineral reserves. To the extent such capitalized costs
benefit an entire ore body, they are amortized over the estimated
life of that ore body. Capitalized costs that benefit specific ore
blocks or areas are amortized over the estimated life of that
specific ore block or area. Recoverable ounces are determined by
the Company based upon its proven and probable mineral reserves and
estimated metal recoveries associated with those mineral
reserves.
Impairment of long-lived assets
The Company’s long-lived assets consist of
Plant, equipment, and mine development, net.
The Company reviews and evaluates its long-lived assets for
impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that
the related carrying amounts may not be recoverable. Events that
may trigger a test for recoverability include, but are not limited
to, significant adverse changes to projected revenues, costs, or
future expansion plans or changes to federal and state regulations
(with which the Company must comply) that may adversely impact the
Company’s current or future operations. An impairment is determined
to exist if the total projected future cash flows on an
undiscounted basis are less than the carrying amount of a
long-lived asset group. An impairment loss is measured and recorded
based on the excess carrying value of the impaired long-lived asset
group over fair value.
In estimating future cash flows, assets are grouped at the lowest
level for which there are identifiable cash flows that are largely
independent of future cash flows from other asset groups. The
Company’s estimates of future cash flows and estimates of fair
value are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to
significant risks and uncertainties. See
Note 6 - Plant, Equipment, and Mine Development, Net
for additional information.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company
determined a triggering event had occurred, as a result of the
Company ceasing mining operations and determining the Novel Process
used in the 2019 Hycroft TRS was no longer expected to be economic.
In addition, the 2022 Hycroft TRS did not include estimates of
proven and probable reserves. As a result, the Company did not have
a basis for projecting future cash flows on an undiscounted basis.
The Company used a market-based approach for determining fair value
based on sales transactions of comparable assets. Because the
Company's estimated fair value of long-lived assets held and used
exceeded their carrying value, the Company determined that, except
for an impairment charge of $6.7 million recognized for
capitalized
Mine development,
no additional impairments of long-lived assets were necessary at
December 31, 2021. See
Note 6 - Plant, Equipment, and Mine Development, Net
for discussion of impairment of capitalized
Mine development
Assets held for sale
The Company classifies long-lived assets or disposal groups to be
sold as held for sale in the period in which all of the following
criteria are met: (1) management, having the authority to approve
the action, commits to a plan to sell the asset or disposal group;
(2) the asset or disposal group is available for immediate sale in
its present condition subject only to terms that are usual and
customary for sales of such assets or disposal groups; (3) an
active program to locate a buyer and other actions required to
complete the plan to sell the asset or disposal group have been
initiated; (4) the sale of the asset or disposal group is probable,
and transfer of the asset or disposal group is expected to qualify
for recognition as a completed sale within one year, except if
events or circumstances beyond our control extend the period of
time required to sell the asset or disposal group beyond one year;
(5) the asset or disposal group is being actively marketed for sale
at a price that is reasonable in relation to its current fair
value; and (6) actions required to complete the plan indicate that
it is unlikely that significant changes to the plan will be made or
that the plan will be withdrawn.
The Company initially measures a long-lived asset or disposal group
that is classified as held for sale at the lower of its carrying
value or fair value less any costs to sell. Any loss resulting from
this measurement is recognized in the period in which the
held-for-sale criteria are met. Conversely, gains are not
recognized on the sale of a long-lived asset or disposal group
until the date of sale. The Company assesses the fair value of a
long-lived asset or disposal group less any costs to sell each
reporting period it remains classified as held for sale and report
any subsequent changes as an adjustment to the carrying value of
the asset or disposal group, as long as the new carrying value does
not exceed the carrying value of the asset at the time it was
initially classified as held for sale.
Upon determining that a long-lived asset or disposal group meets
the criteria to be classified as held for sale, the Company ceases
depreciation and reports long-lived assets and/or the assets and
liabilities of the disposal group as
Assets held for sale,
in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
HYCROFT MINING HOLDING CORPORATION
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Deferred gain on sale of royalty
The Company's
Deferred gain on sale of royalty
is carried at amortized cost with reductions calculated by dividing
actual gold and silver production by the estimated total
life-of-mine production from proven and probable mineral
reserves. Any updates to proven and probable mineral reserves
or the estimated life-of-mine production profile would result in
prospective adjustments to the amortization calculation used to
reduce the carrying value of the royalty
obligation. Amortization