Accordingly, descriptions of mineral deposits contained in this Annual Report and the documents incorporated by reference herein may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
The SEC has adopted amendments to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC. These amendments became effective February 25, 2019 (the “
”) and, following a transition period, the SEC Modernization Rules have replaced the historical property disclosure requirements for mining registrants that are included in SEC Industry Guide 7. As a “foreign private issuer” (as such term is defined in Rule 3b-4 under the Exchange Act) that files its annual report on Form 40-F with the SEC pursuant to the U.S.-Canada Multijurisdictional Disclosure System (“
”), the Company is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101 and CIM. If the Company ceases to be a foreign private issuer or loses its eligibility to file its annual report on Form 40-F pursuant to the MJDS, then the Company will be subject to the SEC Modernization Rules, which differ from the requirements of NI 43-101 and CIM.
The Company’s AIF for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 is filed as
Exhibit 99.1
to this Annual Report and incorporated by reference herein.
AUDITED ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The audited consolidated financial statements of the Company for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, including the report of the independent auditor with respect thereto, are filed as
Exhibit 99.2
to this Annual Report and are incorporated by reference herein.
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
The Company’s management’s discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2021 is filed as
Exhibit 99.3
to this Annual Report (“
”) and is incorporated by reference herein.
Purchasing, holding, or disposing of the Company’s securities may have tax consequences under the laws of the United States and Canada that are not described in this Annual Report.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
At the end of the period covered by this Annual Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, an evaluation was carried out under the supervision of, and with the participation of, the Company’s management, including its Chief Executive Officer (“
”) and Chief Financial Officer (“
”), of the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule
13a-15(e)
and
15d-15(e)
of the Exchange Act). Based upon that evaluation, the Company’s CEO and CFO have concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures were effective to give reasonable assurance that the information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is (i) recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and (ii) accumulated and communicated to management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
The Company’s management, including the Company’s CEO and CFO, is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (“
”), as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. The Company’s ICFR is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of consolidated financial statements for external purposes in accordance with IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. The Company’s ICFR includes policies and procedures that: pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and disposition of assets; provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, and that receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorization of management and directors of the Company; and provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of assets that could have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements.
Because of their inherent limitations, ICFR can provide only reasonable assurance and may not prevent or detect misstatements. Furthermore, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
The Company’s management (with the participation of the CEO and the CFO) conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company’s ICFR as of December 31, 2021. This evaluation was based on the criteria set forth in the 2013 Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on its assessment, management concluded that the Company’s ICFR was not effective as at December 31, 2021, and there was a material weakness in the Company’s ICFR relating to operations.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board defines a “material weakness” as a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in ICFR, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Management identified the following material weakness relating to operations, which existed as of December 31, 2021:
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Evidence of testing of controls, policies and procedures was not sufficiently documented and retained. |
While management does perform periodic testing of specific controls and procedures, the absence of sufficient documented evidence of testing resulted in management being unable to determine that ICFR as a whole is effective.
To address the material weakness, management performed additional analyses and other procedures to ensure that the consolidated financial statements fairly present, in all material respects, the Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. Accordingly, management believes that the consolidated financial statements fairly present, in all material respects, the Company’s financial condition, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented.
In addition, no significant deficiencies relating to the design of ICFR were identified.
As a result of the material weakness described above, the Company’s auditor did not have sufficient appropriate evidence of testing to provide a basis for an opinion on ICFR and accordingly issued a disclaimer of opinion on the Company’s ICFR.
In response to the material weakness described above, the Company will be implementing a remediation plan to address the material weakness which will include measures such as hiring an independent third-party internal controls consultant to assist with our internal controls testing, testing documentation retention, and other internal control enhancements.
The Company will continue to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the Company’s ICFR on an ongoing basis and if the remediation plan is not sufficient to eliminate the material weakness, the Company will consider what additional actions would be required.