Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
Overview
The Corporation was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) on February 22, 2011 under the name “Midas Gold Corp.” The Corporation changed its name to “Perpetua Resources Corp.” on February 15, 2021.
The Corporation’s head office is located at Suite 201 – 405 South 8 th Street, Boise, Idaho, U.S.A. 83702 and its registered and records office is located at Suite 1008 – 550 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 2B5.
The Corporation is a development-stage company engaged in acquiring mining properties with the intention of exploring, evaluating and placing them into production, if warranted. Currently, its principal business is the exploration and, if warranted and subject to receipt of required permitting, redevelopment, restoration and operation of the Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho, USA. The Corporation is currently undertaking an extensive permitting process for redevelopment and restoration of the Project.
Mineral exploration and development are expected to constitute the principal business of the Corporation for the coming years. In the course of realizing its objectives, it is expected the Corporation may enter into various agreements specific to the mining industry, such as purchase or option agreements to purchase mining claims and/or joint venture agreements.
The Corporation’s principal mineral project is the Stibnite Gold Project, which contains several gold, silver and antimony mineral deposits. The Corporation’s current focus is to explore, evaluate and potentially redevelop three of the deposits known as the Hangar Flats Deposit, West End Deposit and Yellow Pine Deposit, all of which are located within the Stibnite Gold Project as well as reprocess certain historical tailings located on the Project. These development activities would be undertaken in conjunction with a major restoration program designed to address legacy impacts related to historical mining activities in the Project area.
The Corporation’s subsidiaries’ property holdings at the Stibnite Gold Project are comprised of a contiguous package of unpatented federal lode claims, unpatented federal mill sites, patented lode mining claims and patented mill sites. As of December 31, 2023, this land position encompassed approximately 11,548 hectares held in 1,672 unpatented lode claims and mill sites and patented land holdings. A subsidiary of the Corporation acquired these rights through a combination of purchases and transactions and staking under the 1872 Mining Law and holds a portion under an option agreement. Bureau of Land Management claim rental payments and filings are current as of the date of this filing and the claims are all held in good standing. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2023, 53 of the Corporation’s unpatented lode mining claims were relinquished and re-staked with 205 unpatented mill sites over areas non-mineral in character and suitable for mill sites should a development decision be made. Normal maintenance and upkeep of the Project infrastructure continued during the year.
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Corporate Structure
The following chart shows the intra-corporate relationships between the Corporation and its subsidiaries. Perpetua Resources Idaho, Inc. (“PRII”) has no ownership interest in the Stibnite Gold Project; rather, it is the designated operating entity and manages the activities on the Project site. The property holding entity, Idaho Gold Resources Company, LLC (“IGRCLLC”), is the surviving entity in a merger with Stibnite Gold Company (“SGC”) effective June 3, 2021 and is managed pursuant to an operating agreement with PRII. PRII and IGRCLLC are wholly owned by the Corporation.
IGRCLLC holds title to the Yellow Pine, Hangar Flats, and West End deposits, all of the patented mill sites and all of the unpatented federal lode mining claims and unpatented mill sites.
Permitting and Environmental Matters
Perpetua Resources focuses on the exploration and mining of the Stibnite Gold Project, the reclamation of prior deposits and historical tailings, and the restoration of the area to address historical activities and legacy contamination. Our project is, therefore, subject to numerous environmental regulations, including federal, state, and local laws. Significantly, we are subject to formal review under NEPA and extensive permitting requirements. In 2016, the Forest Service began its formal review of the Stibnite Gold Project under NEPA. The Forest Service completed scoping in 2017 and subsequently pursuant to the NEPA process, the United States Forest Service and cooperating agencies undertook extensive review of our project and proposed actions through a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“DEIS”), released by the USFS in August 2020. In response to public and agency feedback on the DEIS, Perpetua Resources proposed modifications to the mine plan analyzed in DEIS Alternative 2 to include reduction of the project footprint, improvements in water quality, and lower water temperatures. Perpetua Resources submitted a refined proposed action to the USFS in December 2020 (the “Modified Mine Plan”).
The USFS then prepared a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“SDEIS”) to further evaluate the project refinements and compare the Company’s proposed site access via Burntlog Route to an alternative option using current roads. After nearly two years of review, the SDEIS was published on October 28, 2022 for a 75-day public comment period. The USFS identified Perpetua Resources’ proposed action, the “Modified Mine Plan,” as the Preferred Alternative and concluded that it would reasonably accomplish the purpose and need for consideration of approval of the Stibnite Gold Project, while giving consideration to environmental, economic, and technical factors. Under NEPA, a “Preferred Alternative” is identified by a Federal agency in a DEIS to let the public know which action the agency is leaning toward selecting as final. However, identification of a “Preferred Alternative” does not represent a final decision and the USFS may still choose various actions based on the Modified Mine Plan or each of the alternatives analyzed in the SDEIS when developing the Final Environmental Impact Statement (“FEIS”).
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The SDEIS public review period closed on January 10, 2023. On January 1, 2024, the USFS released an updated schedule for the Project. Based on the updated schedule, the Company anticipates that the USFS will publish a FEIS and a Draft Record of Decision in the second quarter of 2024 and a Final Record of Decision (“ROD”) in the fourth quarter of 2024. The publication of the permitting schedule does not indicate any commitments on the part of the USFS regarding the content or timing of a final decision. In developing the FEIS, the USFS may select an action based on components of each of the alternatives analyzed in the SDEIS. Furthermore, the USFS is not bound by the permitting schedule and anticipated milestones may be delayed materially or not be satisfied. We continue to work on obtaining the required ancillary permits in parallel with the agency’s timeline.
Our project is subject to ongoing litigation and could face further litigious challenges in the future. To address historical legacy impacts at the site of the Stibnite Gold Project, Perpetua Resources has voluntarily entered into an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent (“ASAOC”) with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the “U.S. EPA”) and the United States Department of Agriculture, pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Finalized on January 15, 2021, the ASAOC provides for a number of time critical removal actions (early cleanup actions) designed to improve water quality in several areas of the site. Upon signing of the ASAOC, the aggregate cost of the obligation was estimated to be approximately $7,473,805. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, the total cost estimate to voluntarily address environmental conditions increased to $17,661,435 due to scope changes, inflation and higher fuel prices. As of December 31, 2023, the corresponding environmental liability was estimated to be $764,607. See also Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Government and Environmental Regulations
Mining operations and exploration activities are subject to extensive national, 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, disclosure requirements and other matters. The Corporation plans to obtain the licenses, permits or other authorizations currently required to conduct its exploration or development programs, and it believes it is currently in material compliance with governing mining, health, safety and environmental statutes and regulations in the United States and Idaho. Except as otherwise noted above, we are not subject to any orders or directions with respect to the foregoing laws and regulations. For a more detailed discussion of the various government laws and regulations applicable to our operations and potential negative effects of these laws and regulations, see section Item 1A, Risk Factors , below.
Our operations are also subject to numerous environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate. These laws and regulations may require us to take precautions with respect to threatened, endangered, or otherwise protected species and their habitat as well as other natural, historical, and cultural resources, perform environmental assessments or impact statements, implement siting and operational programs or best practices to minimize environmental impacts from our operations, perform investigatory remedial obligations, and obtain federal, state, and local permits, licenses, or other approvals. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in the imposition of significant fines or penalties. Additionally, we could experience significant opposition from third parties to our application for such permits or during the administrative agency review and appeal process after the issuance of such permits. Delays or denial of permits, or the imposition of costly and difficult to comply with conditions, may impair the development of our Project or curtail our planned operations. The following provides a summary of the more significant environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations which our operations are subject to and for which compliance with may have a material adverse impact on our business.
National Environmental Policy Act ( “ NEPA ” )
Our Project is subject to environmental review under NEPA. This law requires federal agencies to evaluate the environmental impact of their actions that may significantly affect the quality of the human environment and is a prerequisite for the granting of a permit or similar authorization for the development of certain projects. As part of the review, the federal agencies are required to consider numerous environmental impacts, such as impacts on air quality, water quality, cultural resources, wildlife, geology, aesthetics, as well as alternatives to the project. The review process can lead to significant delays in approval of such projects and the issuance of the requisite permits which, in turn, can impact both the cost and development of operations. As a result of NEPA review, agencies may decide to deny permits or other support for a project, or condition approvals on certain modifications or mitigation actions. Additionally, authorizations under NEPA are subject to litigation, protest, or appeal, which has the potential to lead to further delays.
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Pursuant to NEPA, the Forest Service and cooperating agencies undertook additional extensive review of our Project and proposed actions. As a result of this review, a SDEIS was published on October 28, 2022 for a 75-day public comment period which closed on January 10, 2023.
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
The site upon which our Project is located has significant legacy contamination. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) can impose joint and several liability, without regard to fault or legality of conduct, on classes of persons who are statutorily responsible for the release of hazardous substances into the environment. These persons include current owners or operators of a site where a release has occurred. Under CERCLA, such current owners or operators may be subject to strict, joint and several liability for the entire cost of cleaning up hazardous substances and for other expenditures, such as response costs and damage to natural resources. Idaho also has environmental cleanup laws analogous to CERCLA.
Voluntary early cleanup actions can be undertaken pursuant to settlement agreements under CERCLA. We entered into an ASAOC with the U.S. EPA and the United States Department of Agriculture to conduct a number of time critical removal actions focused on improving water quality in several areas of the site.
Protection of Species and Habitat
Our operations are subject to several environmental regulations and guidelines regarding various protected species and their habitats and include the federal Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, alongside similar state laws. These laws impose significant civil and criminal penalties for violations, including injunctions limiting or otherwise prohibiting operations in certain areas where protected species or their habitat is located. The imposition of such restrictions, such as seasonal limitations, may result in additional costs and delays and could impact the feasibility of our Project.
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act (“CWA”) and other similar federal and state laws and regulations may require us to obtain permits for water discharges or take mitigation actions with respect to loss of wetlands. Additionally, such regulations require us to implement a variety of best management practices to ensure that water quality is protected and the impacts of our operations on water quality are minimized. The CWA and analogous laws and regulations provide for administrative, civil and criminal penalties for unauthorized discharges of pollutants in reportable quantities and may impose substantial potential liability for the costs of addressing such discharges.
Mine and Safety Health Administration
Mining operations are regulated by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine and Safety Health Administration (“MSHA”) which carries out the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, as amended by the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. MSHA enforces the health and safety rules for all U.S, mines and includes mine inspections regarding compliance with applicable laws and regulations. MSHA has the ability to issue citations and orders and assess penalties for health and safety violations.
District Exploration
No exploration drilling was completed during the reporting period. Activities during the reporting period focused on studies to support permitting and design, engineering and environmental studies to support the ongoing activities related to the ASAOC.
Employees
At December 31, 2023, the Corporation had 33 full time employees and 2 part time employee. 32 employees were directly related to the mineral development activities of the Stibnite Gold Project and the remaining 3 employees were focused on executive management, investor relations and administrative support of the Corporation. A total of 29 employees were employed in Idaho with many of the Perpetua Resources team working remotely. The Corporation also contracts out certain activities with specific skills to assist with various aspects of the Project.
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Competition
The gold exploration and mining business is a competitive business. The Corporation competes with numerous other companies possessing greater financial and technical research resources. Competition is particularly intense with respect to the acquisition of desirable undeveloped gold properties. In addition, we also encounter competition for the hiring of key personnel. This competition could adversely impact our ability to advance the Project, acquire suitable prospects for exploration in the future on terms we consider acceptable, attract necessary capital funding or acquire an interest in additional properties.
Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”)
Our commitment to ESG practices is a core part of our business and has been since our inception, as formalized by our ESG Policy. We seek to guide our operations with responsible and sustainable mining practices and incorporate strong corporate governance values and stakeholder engagement into our business. We engage regularly with key stakeholders and other interested parties, which allows us to better understand their interests, perspectives, and needs. We also believe in both transparency and accountability as key attributes of our governance strategy and seek to deliver information in an open and consistent manner, as denoted by our 2022 Sustainability Report. Our commitment to ESG is also incorporated into our conservation principles which govern the development of our Project and, ultimately, our operations.
Our ESG Policy, Sustainability Roadmap and our 2022 Sustainability Report can be found on the Company’s website. Information on our website is neither part of, nor incorporated into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Availability of Raw Materials
The raw materials we require to carry on our business are readily available through normal supply or business contracting channels in the United States and Canada. Historically, we have been able to secure the appropriate equipment and supplies required to conduct our contemplated programs. As a result, we do not believe that we will experience any shortages of required equipment or supplies in the foreseeable future.
Gold Price History
The price of gold is volatile and is affected by numerous factors, all of which are beyond our control, such as the sale or purchase of gold by various central banks and financial institutions, inflation, recession, fluctuation in the relative values of the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies, changes in global and regional gold demand, in addition to international and national political and economic conditions. The following table presents the annual high, low and average daily afternoon London Bullion Market Association (“LBMA”) gold price over the past five calendar years on the London Bullion Market ($/ounce):
Year
High
Low
Average
2019
$
1,546
$
1,270
$
1,392
2020
$
2,067
$
1,474
$
1,770
2021
$
1,943
$
1,684
$
1,799
2022
$
2,039
$
1,629
$
1,801
2023
$
2,078
$
1,811
$
1,943
2024 (through March 1)
$
2,078
$
1,985
$
2,030
Data Source: www.kitco.com
Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company
We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”) enacted in April 2012. Certain specified reduced reporting and other regulatory requirements are available to public companies that are emerging growth companies. These provisions include:
● an exemption from the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002;
● an exemption from the adoption of new or revised financial accounting standards until they would apply to private companies;
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● an exemption from compliance with any new requirements adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board requiring mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report in which the auditor would be required to provide additional information about our audit and our financial statements; and
● reduced disclosure about our executive compensation arrangements.
We will continue to be an emerging growth company until the earliest of:
● the last day of our fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenues of $1.235 billion (as such amount is indexed for inflation every five years by the SEC to reflect the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, setting the threshold to the nearest $1.0 million) or more;
● the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of our first sale of common equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”);
● the date on which we have, during the prior three-year period, issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt; or
● the date on which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” under the rules of the SEC, which means the market value of our common shares that is held by non-affiliates (or public float) exceeds $700.0 million as of the last day of our second fiscal quarter in our prior fiscal year.
We have elected to take advantage of certain of the reduced disclosure obligations in this Annual Report and may elect to take advantage of other reduced reporting requirements in future filings. As a result, the information that we provide to our shareholders may be different than what you might receive from other public reporting companies in which you hold equity interests.
Available Information
We file or furnish annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other documents with the SEC under the Exchange Act. The SEC maintains a website ( www.sec.gov ) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including Perpetua, that file electronically with the SEC. We are also subject to requirements of the applicable securities laws of Canada, and documents that we file with the Canadian Securities Administrators may be found at www.sedarplus.ca .
We make available free of charge through our website ( www.perpetuaresources.com ) our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and, if applicable, amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC or the securities commissions or similar regulatory authorities in Canada. In addition to the reports filed or furnished with the SEC and the securities commissions or similar regulatory authorities in Canada, we publicly disclose information from time to time in our press releases, investor presentations posted on our website and at publicly accessible conferences. Such information, including information posted on or connected to our website, is not a part of, or incorporated by reference in, this Annual Report or any other document we file with or furnish to the SEC or the securities commissions or similar regulatory authorities in Canada.
We have adopted a Code of Conduct and Ethics Policy (the “Code of Conduct”) that applies to our management and to our other employees. We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirement under Item 5.05 of Form 8-K relating to amendments to or waivers from any provision of our Code of Conduct applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer and other persons performing similar functions by posting such information on our website ( www.perpetuaresources.com ). Our other policies and the charters of our Audit, Compensation and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committees are available on our website. Information on our website is neither part of, nor incorporated into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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