Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A -- Risk Factors of the 2022 10-K sets forth information relating to important risks and uncertainties that could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, financial condition or operating results. Those risk factors have been supplemented and updated in the Company’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 (the “Q1 2023 10-Q”), in the Company’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2023 (the “Q2 2023 10-Q”) and in this Form 10-Q. Except as supplemented and updated in the Q1 2023 10-Q, the Q2 2023 10-Q and below, the risk factors set forth in the 2022 10-K remain current. Additional risks and uncertainties that the Company does not presently know or that it currently deems immaterial also may impair our business operations.
The Company may be affected by global supply chain disruptions.
The Company may face supply chain disruptions as a result of matters outside of the Company’s control or ability to mitigate, such as natural disasters, transportation disruptions, economic instability, geopolitical unrest, civil or international hostilities and global pandemics, among others. Recently, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in losses of life, displacement of people, and political and economic disruptions on a global scale. There may be unforeseen impacts from these events globally on commodity prices, liquidity and credit or supply chains, and the Company continues to monitor them closely.
Compliance with environmental regulations and litigation based on environmental regulations could require significant expenditures.
Environmental regulations mandate, among other things, the maintenance of air and water quality standards, land development and land reclamation, and set forth limitations on the generation, transportation, storage and disposal of solid and hazardous waste. Environmental legislation and environmental justice provisions are evolving in a manner that may require stricter standards and enforcement, increased fines and penalties for non-compliance, more stringent environmental assessments of proposed projects, and a heightened degree of responsibility for mining companies and their officers, directors and employees. We may incur environmental costs that could have a material adverse effect on financial condition and results of operations. Any failure to remedy an environmental problem could require us to suspend operations or enter into interim compliance measures pending completion of the required remedy. The environmental standards that ultimately may be imposed at a mine site affect the cost of remediation and could exceed the financial accruals that we have made for such remediation. The potential exposure may be significant and could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Moreover, governmental authorities and private parties may bring lawsuits based upon damage to property and injury to persons resulting from the environmental, health and safety impacts of prior and current operations, including operations conducted by other mining companies many years ago at sites located on properties that we currently or previously owned. These lawsuits could lead to the imposition of substantial fines, remediation costs, penalties and other civil and criminal sanctions. Substantial costs and liabilities, including for restoring the environment after the closure of mines, are inherent in our operations. We cannot assure that any such law, regulation, enforcement or private claim would not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Some of the mining waste from our U.S. mines currently are exempt to a limited extent from the extensive set of EPA regulations governing hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”). If the EPA were to repeal this exemption and designate these mining wastes as hazardous under RCRA, we would be required to make significant expenditures to manage the waste and to construct hazardous waste storage or disposal facilities. Under the Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 (“MEBA”), incidental elemental mercury generated at our Rochester mine as part of the processing of ore may not be exported outside of the United States and is required to be stored in a facility capable for long-term mercury management designated by the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”). The DOE is undergoing processes to designate such a facility and to establish storage and handling fees, which is not yet final. The outcome could result in material cost being incurred to ship and store Coeur Rochester's mercury. In addition, if any of these wastes causes contamination in or damage to the environment at a U.S. mining facility, that facility could be designated as a “Superfund” site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”). Under CERCLA, any present owner or operator of a Superfund site or the owner or operator at the time of contamination may be held jointly and severally liable regardless of fault and may be forced to undertake extensive remedial cleanup action or to pay for the cleanup efforts. The owner or operator also may be liable to
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federal, state and tribal/indigenous governmental entities for the cost of damages to natural resources, which could be substantial. Additional regulations or requirements also are imposed on our tailings and waste disposal areas in Alaska under the federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”), in Nevada under the Nevada Water Pollution Control Law which implements the CWA, in South Dakota under the South Dakota Water Pollution Control Act and the Administrative Rules of the State of South Dakota, in British Columbia (Canada) under the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in British Columbia, the British Columbia Environmental Management Act and the Canadian Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations, and in Mexico under the General Law of Ecological Balance and Protection of the Environment (the "GLEBPE") and the regulations under the GLEBPE related to environmental protection in impact assessment matters.
Airborne emissions are subject to controls under air pollution statutes implementing the Clean Air Act in the U.S. and are regulated under the Environmental Management Act in British Columbia (Canada) and the GLEBPE and the regulations under GLEBPE related to prevention and control of the pollution of the atmosphere in Mexico. In addition, there are numerous legislative and regulatory initiatives related to climate change, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, or energy policy and adoption of these initiatives through legislative actions or administrative policy could have a material adverse effect on results of operations and cash flows. However, we are unable to predict the scope, nature and timing of any new or increased environmental laws and regulations and therefore cannot predict the ultimate impact of such laws and regulations on our business or financial results. We continue to monitor existing and proposed laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate to consider actions we may take to potentially mitigate any unfavorable impact of such laws or regulations.
In addition, U.S. environmental conservation efforts could result in the withdrawal of certain federal lands from mineral entry under relevant mining law, which could have the effect of restricting our current or future planned activities involving our unpatented mining claims on the affected public lands.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Information pertaining to mine safety matters is reported in accordance with Section 1503(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in Exhibit 95.1 attached to this Form 10-Q.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.