Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Income Taxes [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

11. INCOME TAXES

The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, Cameroon, France, New Caledonia and Colorado. The Company has open tax years for the U.S. federal return from 2000 forward with respect to its net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards, where the IRS may not raise tax for these years, but can reduce NOLs. Otherwise, with few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to federal, state, or local income tax examinations for years prior to 2008. The Company has incurred losses since inception. Due to the full valuation allowance against its net deferred tax asset, management would expect that any adjustment resulting from the audit would not result in an adjustment to the Company’s financial statements. In addition, the Company’s ability to deduct NOL carryforwards may be subject to a limitation if the Company were to undergo an ownership change for purposes of Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

There was no benefit from income taxes in the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2012 and during the same periods in 2011. The effective tax rate was 0% for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2012 and for the same periods in 2011. Our effective rates differ from the statutory federal rate of 35% for certain items, such as state and local taxes, non-deductible expenses, change in valuation allowance offsetting foreign and domestic operating losses and foreign taxes at rates other than 35%.

The Company recognizes potential accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. For the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2012, the Company recognized no potential interest or penalties with respect to unrecognized tax benefits.

The Company had no unrecognized tax benefit as of June 30, 2012 or change in unrecognized tax benefits that would impact the effective rate. The Company does not anticipate a significant change to the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits over the remainder of the year.