Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

28.	COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

At December 31, 2019, the Company had the following contractual obligations outstanding:


	Total		Within 1 year		1-2 years		2-3 years		3-4 years		4–5 years		Thereafter
Loans and borrowings and accrued interest	$	331,720	$	77,462	$	53,364	$	52,280	$	6,983	$	141,631	$	-
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities		67,047		67,047		-		-		-		-		-
Reclamation obligations (1)		38,116		459		3,642		4,547		3,204		3,717		22,547
Purchase commitments		27,638		25,008		1,541		969		112		7		1
Lease commitments		1,068		365		204		210		216		73		-
Total	$	465,589	$	170,341	$	58,751	$	58,006	$	10,515	$	145,428	$	22,548

(1) Amount represents undiscounted future cash flows.

Due to the nature of the Company’s operations, various legal, tax, environmental and regulatory matters are outstanding from time to time. By their nature, contingencies will only be resolved when one or more future events occur or fail to occur. The assessment of contingencies inherently involves the exercise of significant judgement and estimates of the outcome of future events. While the outcomes of these matters are uncertain, based upon the

information currently available, the Company does not believe that these matters in aggregate will have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial statements. In the event that management’s estimate of the future resolution of these matters changes, the Company will recognize the effects of these changes in its consolidated financial statements in the period in which such changes occur.

The Company is a defendant in various lawsuits and legal actions, including for alleged fines, taxes and labour related matters in the jurisdictions in which it operates. Management regularly reviews these lawsuits and legal actions with outside counsel to assess the likelihood that the Company will ultimately incur a material cash outflow to settle the claim. To the extent management believes it is probable that a cash outflow will be incurred to settle the claim, a provision for the estimated settlement amount is recorded. At December 31, 2019, the Company recorded a legal provision for these items totaling $4.0 million (December 31, 2018 – $2.9 million) which is included in other long-term liabilities.

The Company is contesting federal income and municipal VAT assessments in Brazil. Brazilian courts often require a taxpayer to post cash or a guarantee for the disputed amount before hearing a case. It can take up to five years to complete an appeals process and receive a final verdict. At December 31, 2019, the Company has recorded restricted cash of $13.9 million (December 31, 2018 – $7.5 million) in relation to insurance bonds for tax assessments in the appeals process. The Company may in the future have to post security, by way of cash, insurance bonds or equipment pledges, with respect to certain federal income and municipal tax assessments being contested, the amounts and timing of which are uncertain. The Company and its advisor believe that the federal income and municipal tax assessments which are under appeal are wholly without merit and no provision has been recorded with respect to these matters.

In certain jurisdictions where the Company operates, entities that are exporters are permitted to maintain offshore bank accounts and are required to register all transactions resulting in deposits into and payments out of those accounts. The Company has identified that in certain instances it has not registered all transaction prior to 2017. The Company has been advised by its tax and foreign trade legal advisors that material fines are imposable under statute that could result from

non-compliance

with a five-year statute of limitations

If the Company is unable to resolve all these matters favorably, there may be an adverse impact on the Company’s financial performance, cash flows and results of operations.