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Financial risk management

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Financial risk management [abstract]

Financial risk management

19. Financial risk management

a. Financial risk factors

The Company’s risk exposures and the impact on its financial instruments are summarized below:

(i) Credit Risk

Credit risk is the risk of loss associated with a counterparty’s inability to fulfill its payment obligations. The Company’s credit risk is primarily attributable to cash and cash equivalents and trade and other receivables. The credit risk on cash and cash equivalents is limited because the Company invests its cash in deposits with well-capitalized financial institutions with strong credit ratings in Canada and the United States. Under current concentrate offtake agreements, risk on trade receivables related to concentrate sales is managed by receiving payments for 85% to 100% of the estimated value of the concentrate within one month following the time of shipment.

As of December 31, 2017, the Company’s exposure to credit risk with respect to trade receivables amounts to $3.8 million (December 31, 2016: $2.1 million). The Company believes credit risk for Mexican Value Added Taxes of $2.8 million (December 31, 2016: $1.6 million) is not significant as they relate to current amounts receivable from Mexican taxation authorities. There are no receivables that are past due and the Company has no allowance for doubtful accounts at December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016.

(ii) Liquidity risk

Liquidity risk is the risk that the Company will not be able to meet its financial obligations as they arise. The Company’s approach to managing liquidity risk is to ensure that it will have sufficient liquidity to meet liabilities when due. The Company’s liquidity requirements are met through a variety of sources, including cash, cash generated from operations, existing credit facilities and debt and equity capital markets. The Company’s trade payables have contractual maturities of less than 30 days and are subject to normal trade terms.

The following table presents the contractual maturities of the Company’s financial liabilities on an undiscounted basis:

	December 31, 2017
			Less than						Over 5
	Total		1 year		2-3 years		4-5 years		years

Trade and other payables	$	10,393	$	10,393	$	-	$	-	$	-
Pre-payment facility		15,000		4,000		11,000		-		-
Interest on pre-payment facility		1,601		856		745		-		-
Leases		1,438		290		563		540		45
Other long-term liabilities		564		-		95		-		469
	$	28,996	$	15,539	$	12,403	$	540	$	514

(iii) Market risk

Market risk is the risk that the fair value or future cash flows of a financial instrument will fluctuate because of changes in market prices. Market risk comprises three types of risk: interest rate risk, currency risk and price risk.

(1)	Interest rate risk

The Company is not subject to significant interest rate risk as the existing credit facilities have a fixed interest rate.

(2)	Currency risk

As at December 31, 2017, the Company is exposed to foreign currency risk through financial assets and liabilities denominated in CAD and Mexican pesos (“MXP”):

Financial instruments that may impact the Company’s net earnings or other comprehensive income due to currency fluctuations include CAD and MXP denominated assets and liabilities which are included in the following table:

	As at December 31, 2017
	CAD		MXP

Cash and cash equivalents	$	1,436	$	1,681
Trade and other receivables		19		2,814
Trade and other payables		1,831		4,385

As at December 31, 2017, the CAD/USD and MXP/USD exchange rates were 1.25 and 19.74, respectively. The sensitivity of the Company’s net loss and comprehensive loss due to changes in the exchange rates as at December 31, 2017 is included in the following table:

	CAD/USD			MXP/USD
	Exchange rate			Exchange rate
		+/- 10%			+/- 10%

Approximate impact on:
Net loss	$	732		$	850
Other comprehensive loss		(93	)		110

The Company may, from time to time, employ derivative financial instruments to manage exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

(3)	Price risk

Price risk is the risk that the fair value or future cash flows of a financial instrument will fluctuate because of changes in market prices (other than those arising from interest rate risk or currency risk), whether those changes are caused by factors specific to the individual financial instrument or its issuer, or factors affecting all similar financial instruments in the market. As at December 31, 2017, the Company had certain amounts related to the sales of concentrates that have only been provisionally priced. A ±10% fluctuation in silver, zinc, lead, and copper prices would affect trade receivables by approximately $0.4 million (2016: $0.2 million). The Company may use derivatives to manage its exposure to price risk.

b. Fair values

The fair value of cash, restricted cash, trade and other payables, credit facilities and other long-term liabilities approximate their carrying amounts. The methods and assumptions used in estimating the fair value of other financial assets and liabilities are as follows:

·	Cash and cash equivalents: The fair value of cash equivalents is valued using quoted market prices in active markets. The Company’s cash equivalents consist of money market accounts held at financial institutions which have original maturities of less than 90 days.

Trade and other receivables: The fair value of trade receivables from silver sales contracts that contain provisional pricing terms is determined using the appropriate quoted forward price from the exchange that is the principal active market for the particular metal. As such, there is an embedded derivative feature within trade receivables.

·	Available-for-sale investment: Investment in publicly quoted equity securities have been marked to market based on the trading price as at December 31, 2017.

·	Long-term investments: The fair value of long-term investments is determined based on the closing price of each security at the balance sheet date. The closing price is a quoted market price obtained from the exchange that is the principal active market for the particular security.

Embedded derivatives: Revenues from the sale of metals produced since the commencement of commercial production are based on provisional prices at the time of shipment. Variations between the price recorded at the time of sale and the actual final price received from the customer are caused by changes in market prices for metals sold and result in an embedded derivative in revenues and accounts receivable.

Derivatives: The Company uses derivative and non-derivative instruments to manage financial risks, including commodity, interest rate, and foreign exchange risks. The use of derivative contracts is governed by documented risk management policies and approved limits. The Company does not use derivatives for speculative purposes. The fair value of the Company’s derivative instruments is based on quoted market prices for similar instruments and at market prices at the valuation date.

The fair value hierarchy establishes three levels to classify the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value:

·	Level 1 inputs are quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 inputs are quoted prices in markets that are not active, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability (for example, interest rate and yield curves observable at commonly quoted intervals, forward pricing curves used to value currency and commodity contracts and volatility measurements used to value option contracts), or inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data or other means.

·	Level 3 inputs are unobservable (supported by little or no market activity).

	December 31,		December 31,
	2017		2016

Level 1
Cash and cash equivalents	$	9,325	$	24,055
Restricted cash		331		151
Available-for-sale investment		-		503
Long-term investments		4		28

Level 2
Trade and other receivables		6,631		4,002
Credit facilities		-		7,758
Pre-payment facility		15,000		-