XML 41 R13.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.6.0.2

MINERAL PROPERTY INTERESTS | 12 Months Ended
--- | ---
Dec. 31, 2016
MINERAL PROPERTY INTERESTS |
MINERAL PROPERTY INTERESTS | NOTE 5 MINERAL PROPERTY INTERESTS On April 19, 2016, the Company completed the acquisition of the sliding scale net smelter return royalty (the “Royalty”) on the El Gallo 1 mine and El Gallo 2 project, previously requiring payment of 3.5% of gross revenue less allowable deductions, eventually reducing to 1%. The total purchase price was $6.3 million and consisted of a $5.3 million payment at closing and a deferred payment of $1.0 million due on June 30, 2018, conditional that the El Gallo 1 mine and El Gallo 2 project are in operation at that time. The total cost of the Royalty was accounted for as an addition to mineral property interests. The cost was allocated to El Gallo 1 mine and El Gallo 2 project based on the relative fair value of the future royalty payments for each project. The allocation resulted in approximately $5.1 million allocated to the El Gallo 1 mine and $1.2 million allocated to the El Gallo 2 project. The $1.0 million conditional deferred payment has been included under non-current other liabilities as of December 31, 2016. The Royalty ceased accruing at the end of March 2016. The Company conducts a review of potential triggering events for impairment for all its mineral projects on a quarterly basis. When events or changes in circumstances indicate that the related carrying amounts may not be recoverable, the Company carries out a review and evaluation of its long-lived assets. In the year ended December 31, 2016, no such triggering events were identified with respect to the Company’s Nevada, Argentina or Mexico properties. For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company recognized impairments on its Argentina and Nevada properties and portion of Mexico construction-in-progress, for an aggregate of $50.6 million. For the Nevada properties, an initial $29.7 million impairment was recorded in the second quarter of 2015 when the Company performed a strategic review of its mineral property interests from which a decision was made to allow certain non-essential claims and portions of claims, included within the Gold Bar project and Tonkin property, to lapse on the September 1, 2015 renewal date and therefore reduce property holding costs that otherwise would have been incurred in 2015. Subsequently, during the fourth quarter of 2015 an additional $7.5 million was recorded given the continuous decline in the observed market value of the Nevada properties. The deferred income tax recoveries resulting from the Nevada impairments made in the second quarter and fourth quarter of 2015 were $10.4 million and $2.2 million, respectively. The Company used the market approach to estimate the fair value of the impaired properties. Further, when performing the recoverability test for the Los Azules project and El Gallo 2 project asset groups in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Company noted that the carrying value of each of the asset groups exceeded their estimated fair value, resulting in a total impairment charge for Los Azules project and El Gallo 2 project asset groups of $11.4 million and $2.0 million, respectively, along with a resulting deferred income tax recovery of $1.3 million and $nil million, respectively, being recorded in the Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Loss for the year ended December 31, 2015. The Company used the market approach to estimate the fair value of the impaired properties. For the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company recognized impairments on its Argentina and Nevada properties, for an aggregate of $353.7 million. For the Argentina properties, an initial $120.4 million impairment was recorded in the second quarter of 2014 when the Los Azules project was deemed to have a lower carrying value than the market price determined from a contemporaneous and comparable transaction completed at the time. Subsequently, during the fourth quarter of 2014 an additional $107.9 million was recorded given the continuous decline in the observed market value of the Los Azules project. The Company used the market approach to estimate the fair value of the impaired properties. The deferred income tax recoveries resulting from these impairments were $22.5 million and $19.3 million, respectively. Further, when performing the recoverability test for the Gold Bar, Tonkin and North Battle Mountain properties in Nevada and its other exploration properties in Argentina, the Company noted that the carrying value of each of the properties exceeded their estimated fair value, resulting in a total impairment charge for Nevada and Los Azules properties amounted to $98.4 million and $27.0 million, respectively, along with a resulting deferred income tax recovery of $31.6 million and $3.2 million, respectively, being recorded in the Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Loss for the year ended December 31, 2014. Based on the above, impairment charges were recorded on the following mineral property interests for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014:
Name of Property |  | Segment |  | 2016 |  | 2015 |  | 2014 |
Los Azules Project |  | Argentina |  | $ | — |  | $ | 11,399 |  | $ | 228,301 |
Other San Juan Properties |  | Argentina |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 7,817 |
Cerro Mojon Tenements |  | Argentina |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 1,971 |
La Merced Tenements |  | Argentina |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 1,891 |
Cabeza de Vaca Tenements |  | Argentina |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 877 |
El Trumai Tenements |  | Argentina |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 1,534 |
Martes 13 Tenements |  | Argentina |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 3,568 |
Celestina Tenements |  | Argentina |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 1,753 |
Other Santa Cruz Exploration Properties |  | Argentina |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 7,601 |
Gold Bar Project |  | Nevada |  |  | — |  |  | 20,847 |  |  | 31,391 |
Tonkin Properties |  | Nevada |  |  | — |  |  | 14,939 |  |  | 25,435 |
Limo Project |  | Nevada |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 23,438 |
North Battle Mountain Properties |  | Nevada |  |  | — |  |  | 1,443 |  |  | 1,921 |
East Battle Mountain Properties |  | Nevada |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 4,060 |
West Battle Mountain Properties |  | Nevada |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 2,567 |
Other United States Properties |  | Nevada |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 9,611 |
Property, Plant and Equipment |  | Mexico |  |  | — |  |  | 1,972 |  |  | — |
Total impairment |  |  |  | $ | — |  | $ | 50,600 |  | $ | 353,736 |
The carrying values for all of the mineral properties held by the Company as at December 31, 2016 and 2015 are noted below:
Name of Property |  | State/Province |  | Country |  | 2016 |  | 2015
Los Azules Copper Project |  | San Juan |  | Argentina |  | $ | 191,490 |  | $ | 191,490
Tonkin Properties |  | Nevada |  | United States |  |  | 4,833 |  |  | 4,833
Gold Bar Project |  | Nevada |  | United States |  |  | 31,180 |  |  | 30,730
North Battle Mountain Properties |  | Nevada |  | United States |  |  | 785 |  |  | 785
El Gallo 1 Mine |  | Sinaloa |  | Mexico |  |  | 8,545 |  |  | 5,925
El Gallo 2 Properties |  | Sinaloa |  | Mexico |  |  | 5,807 |  |  | 3,482
Total Mineral Property Interests |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 242,640 |  | $ | 237,245
For the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company recorded $2.4 million (2015 - $1.3 million and 2014 - $1.3 million) of amortization expense related to El Gallo 1 mine, which is included in Production Costs Applicable to Sales in the Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). This included $0.5 million (2015 - $0.5 million and 2014 - $0.5 million) related to the amortization of capitalized asset retirement costs and $1.9 million (2015 - $0.8 million and 2014 - $0.8 million) in amortization expense related to its mineral properties in Mexico and the capitalized royalty costs attributable to El Gallo 1 mine property which were acquired in the second quarter of 2016.

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_MineralIndustriesDisclosuresAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The entire disclosure for mineral industries. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_MineralIndustriesDisclosuresTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration