Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business.
Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. is a Nevada corporation formed on June 15, 1992 under the name X-Cal (USA), Inc. Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. common stock trades on the NYSE American LLC under the symbol “PZG.” Unless the context otherwise requires, reference to “we,” “us,” “our,” “Paramount,” the “Company” and other similar references refer to Paramount Gold Nevada Corp.
INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING AND ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSACTIONS
On April 17, 2015, we entered into the previously disclosed separation and distribution agreement (the “Separation Agreement”) with Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. (“PGSC”), to effect the separation (the “separation”) of the Company from PGSC, and to provide for the allocation between the Company and PGSC of the Company’s and PGSC’s assets, liabilities and obligations attributable to periods prior to, at and after the separation.
We filed a registration statement on Form S-1 in connection with the distribution (the “distribution”) by PGSC to its stockholders of all the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company, par value $0.01 per share. The registration statement was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on April 9, 2015. On April 6, 2015, the Company filed a Form 8-A with the SEC to register its shares of common stock under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The distribution, which effected a spin-off of the Company from PGSC, was made on April 17, 2015, to PGSC stockholders of record on April 14, 2015. On the distribution date, stockholders of PGSC received one share of Company common stock for every 20 shares of PGSC common stock held. Up to and including the distribution date, PGSC common stock traded on the “regular-way” market; that is, with an entitlement to shares of Company common stock distributed pursuant to the distribution. As a result of the distribution, the Company is now a publicly traded company independent from PGSC. On April 20, 2015, the Company’s shares of common stock commenced trading on the NYSE American LLC (formerly NYSE MKT) under the symbol “PZG”. An aggregate of 8,101,371 shares of Company common stock were distributed in the distribution. In connection with our separation from PGSC and PGSC’s merger with and into Coeur Mining, Inc. (“Coeur”), PGSC contributed approximately $8.45 million to us as an equity contribution, and we issued 417,420 shares of our common stock, par value $0.01 per share, to Coeur in exchange for a cash payment by Coeur in the amount of $1.47 million.
On March 14, 2016, Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. and Calico Resources Corp. (“Calico”) entered into an Arrangement Agreement providing for the acquisition of Calico by Paramount. On July 7, 2016, after having received the approval of the Supreme Court of British Columbia to the transaction, Paramount and Calico completed the transaction contemplated by the Arrangement Agreement, pursuant to which Calico became a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount.
On November 14, 2016, Calico Resources Corp. was merged into Calico Resources USA Corp. As a result, Calico Resources USA Corp. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount.
OVERVIEW OF PARAMOUNT GOLD NEVADA CORP.
We are engaged in the business of acquiring, exploring and developing precious metal projects in the United States of America. Paramount owns advanced stage exploration projects in the states of Nevada and Oregon. We enhance the value of our projects by implementing exploration and engineering programs that are likely to expand and upgrade known mineralized material to reserves. Paramount believes there are several ways to realize the value of its projects: selling its projects to producers; joint venturing its projects with other companies; or building and operating small mines on its own.
The Company’s principal Nevada interest, the Sleeper Gold Project, is located in Humboldt County, Nevada, and was a producing mine until 1996.
Our project located in Oregon, known as the Grassy Mountain Project (“Grassy Mountain”), is located in Malheur County, Oregon, and was acquired by way of statutory plan of arrangement in the Province of British Columbia, Canada with Calico in July 2016.
INTER-CORPORATE RELATIONSHIPS
We currently have three active wholly owned direct subsidiaries:
New Sleeper Gold LLC and Sleeper Mining Company, LLC, which operate our mining interests in Nevada.
Calico Resources USA Corp., which holds our interest in the Grassy Mountain Project in Oregon.
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The Company’s corporate structure is as follows:
COMPETITION
The mineral exploration industry is highly competitive. We compete with junior and senior mineral exploration companies, independent producers and institutional and individual investors who are actively seeking to acquire mineral exploration properties throughout the United States together with the equipment, labor and materials required to explore on those properties. Competition for the acquisition of mineral exploration interests is intense with many mineral exploration leases or concessions available through a competitive bidding process in which we may lack the technological information or expertise available to other bidders. Accordingly, these competitors may be able to spend greater amounts on acquiring mineral exploration interests of merit or on exploring or developing their mineral exploration properties. This advantage could enable our competitors to acquire mineral exploration properties of greater quality and interest to prospective investors who may choose to finance their exploration and development projects instead of the Company’s. Such competition could adversely impact our ability to attain the financing necessary for us to acquire further mineral exploration interests.
We do not compete with anyone with respect to our existing mineral claims because they are 100% controlled or owned by us. We believe we have or can acquire on reasonable terms the equipment, labor and materials necessary to explore our current properties. Because there is presently no known mineral reserve at this time on our existing properties, we have not determined the impact of any capital expenditures on our earnings or competitive position in the event a potentially commercially mineable ore deposit is discovered.
UNITED STATES REGULATIONS
Mining Claims : Exploration activities on our properties are conducted both upon federally owned land and private land. Most federally owned land is administered by the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”). On existing claims owned by the federal government, we are required to pay annual claim maintenance fees of $165 per claim on or before September 1st at the State Office of the BLM. In addition, we are required to pay the county recorder of the county in which the claim is situated an annual fee. The county fees in Nevada and Oregon are $12.00 and $5.00 per claim, respectively. On certain claims, we are required to pay a fee of $165.00 for each 20 acres of an association placer. For any new claims we acquire by staking, we must file a certificate of location with the State Office of the BLM within 90 days of making the claim along with a fee equal to the amount of the annual claim maintenance fee.
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Annual Payments made to federal and other state agencies to maintain claims:
Property
Number of
Claims
Federal
payments to
Bureau of
Land Management
Payment to
Local County
Total Annual
Payment to
Maintain Claims
Sleeper Gold Project and Other Nevada Claims
2,510
$
423,885
$
30,729
$
454,614
Grassy Mountain Project and Other Oregon Claims
548
$
90,420
$
3,093
$
93,513
Total Annual Payment to Maintain Mining Claims
$
548,127
Mining Exploration : BLM regulations require, and we have obtained, permits for surface disturbances to conduct our exploration activities. At our Sleeper Gold Project, there are also numerous permits in place that are maintained from the previous mine operations. We maintain these permits for ease in updating should a decision be made to reinitiate production at the Sleeper Gold mine. Maintenance of these permits includes monthly, quarterly and annual monitoring and reporting to various government agencies and departments.
Environmental and Reclamation : Our Sleeper Gold Project is currently operated as an advanced exploration project and is subject to various permit requirements. We are required to submit a plan of operation, obtain permitting and post bonds that guarantee that reclamation is performed on lands associated with exploration.
EMPLOYEES
As of June 30, 2021, we employed seven full-time employees and one consultant.
FACILITIES
Our principal office is located at 665 Anderson Street, Winnemucca, Nevada, 89445.