Share Awards

12 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2023

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Share Awards

14. Share Awards

The Company has established the 2021 Retention Plan (“the Retention Plan”) to issue shares in the effort to retain key executives, directors, and employees. The Retention Plan allows for several different types of awards to be granted, including but not limited to, restricted share units and restricted share awards, collectively referred to as “share awards”. Share awards generally have the same expense characteristics under US GAAP and generally all vest over a four-year period at a rate of 25% per annum.

Under the Retention Plan, the Company is authorized to issue shares of common stock to employees and non-employees up to ten percent (10%) of the total number of shares of common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2022, on a fully diluted basis.

The Company granted 2,152,232 and 126,129 share awards under the Retention Plan for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The grant date fair value of the share awards granted were $17.8 million and $1.7 million for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Of these amounts, 815,433 and 6,667 share awards with a fair value of $6.6 million and $0.1 million were granted to officers and directors of the Company for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 respectively. As of June 30, 2023 additional performance targets have been defined, though not achieved, therefore the Company has deferred any expense recognition until such performance achievement and also been approved by the board of directors.

The table below depict the share award activity for the period ended June 30, 2023:

	Units			Weighted- Average Grant Date Fair Value per Unit
Unvested share awards at June 30, 2022		23,334		$	12.30
Granted		2,152,232		$	8.25
Vested		(435,857	)	$	(8.25	)
Forfeitures		(3,333	)	$	(7.50	)
Unvested awards at June 30, 2023		1,736,376		$	8.25

As awards are granted, stock-based compensation equivalent to the fair market value on the date of grant is expensed over the requisite service period, using the graded vesting attribution method as acceptable under ASC 718, “Stock-Based Compensation.”

The Company recognized stock-based compensation expense of $9.2 million and $1.2 million for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Of these amounts, $3.7 million and $0.1 million of expense was recognized on behalf of awards held by officers and directors of the Company for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

As of June 30, 2023 and 2022, there were approximately $8.7 million and $0.2 million of unamortized expenses relating to outstanding share awards to be recognized over a remaining weighted-average period of 3.2 years and 2.0 years, respectively.

The table below presents the stock-based compensation expense per respective line item of the consolidated statements of operations for the fiscal years ended:

	June 30, 2023		June 30, 2022
General and administrative	$	4,817,645	$	1,233,155
Research and development		3,735,528		-
Exploration		696,289		-
	$	9,249,462	$	1,233,155

Executive officers and selected other key employees are eligible to receive common share performance-based awards, as determined by the board of directors. The payouts, in the form of share awards, vary based on the degree to which corporate operating objectives are met. These performance-based awards typically include a service-based requirement, which a generally four-years. No granting of these awards occurs until performance thresholds are achieved. The Company has granted 1.2 million and nil performance-based awards to officers and employees of the Company for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company grants awards at the time of reaching such performance targets.