STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION (Tables)

6 Months Ended

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Dec. 31, 2021

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Stock-Based Compensation Expense

Stock-based compensation expense related to all stock-based incentive plans is included in our consolidated statements of operations as follows:

	Six Months Ended December 31, 2021		Years Ended June 30,
			2021		2020		2019
Exploration and mine development costs	$	687,695	$	495,031	$	171,151	$	85,450
General and administrative expenses	1,315,421		824,341		299,788		352,925
Total stock-based compensation expense(1)	$	2,003,116	$	1,319,372	$	470,939	$	438,375

__________________________

(1)For the six months ended December 31, 2021 and the years ended June 30, 2021, 2020 and 2019, we did not reflect a tax benefit associated with stock-based compensation expense in the consolidated statements of operations because we had a full tax valuation allowance during these periods. As such, the table above does not reflect the tax impacts of stock-based compensation expense.

Schedule of Stock Option Awards Activity

Stock option award activity is presented in the following table:

	Shares	Weighted-Average Exercise Price (per share)		Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Term (in years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at June 30, 2018	797,000	$	9.47
Options granted	49,500	16.45
Outstanding at June 30, 2019	846,500	13.77
Options granted	259,500	16.15
Options exercised or surrendered	(315,000)	7.71
Options expired	(254,750)	17.13
Outstanding at June 30, 2020	536,250	16.88
Options granted	135,004	35.14
Options exercised or surrendered	(15,000)	12.38
Options expired	(263,750)	15.97
Outstanding at June 30, 2021	392,504	21.16
Options exercised or surrendered	(120,000)	13.93
Outstanding at December 31, 2021	272,504	24.34		2.2	$	28.12
Vested at December 31, 2021	175,501	18.01		1.5	34.45

Schedule of Share-based Payment Award, Stock Options, Valuation Assumptions

The following assumptions were used to estimate the fair value of stock options granted during the periods presented below:

	Years Ended June 30,
	2021	2020	2019
Expected life of options (in years)	5.3 - 6.3	2.7 - 2.8	1.2 - 3.2
Risk-free interest rate	0.9% - 1.2%	0.3% - 0.5%	1.4% - 2.0%
Assumed volatility	50%	70%	75% - 85%
Expected dividend rate	0%	0%	0%

Summary of RSU Activity

A summary of our RSU activity is presented in the following table:

	Shares	Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value (per share)
Unvested at June 30, 2020	—	$	—
RSUs granted	36,745	64.08
Unvested at June 30, 2021	36,745	64.08
RSUs granted	14,532	59.17
Unvested at December 31, 2021	51,277	62.69

Schedule of PRAs Activity

The activity under our PRAs is reflected in the following table:

	Shares	Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value (per share)
Unvested at June 30, 2018	15,000	$	5.41
PRAs vested	(3,500)	5.41
PRAs forfeited	(11,000)	5.41
Unvested at June 30, 2019	500	5.41
PRAs granted	75,000	4.51
PRAs vested	(25,000)	4.51
PRAs forfeited	(500)	5.41
Unvested at June 30, 2020	50,000	5.20
PRAs granted	10,000	6.50
Unvested at June 30, 2021	60,000	5.42
PRAs vested	(25,000)	5.20
PRAs forfeited	(5,000)	6.50
Unvested at December 31, 2021	30,000	5.42