sufficient additional sources of revenue. There is no assurance that we will develop additional sources or revenue.

In addition, the potential profitability of mining and processing at ourthe Velardeña Operations will exceed our company-wide expenses by the end of 2012Properties is subject tobased on a number of assumptions. For example, we may not achieveprofitability will depend on metal prices, costs of materials and supplies, costs at the significant increases in production that we project to occur during 2012,mines and silverprocessing plants and gold prices may not average $30.00 per ounce and $1,500.00 per ounce, respectively. In addition, we expect our operating expenses, capital expenditures and other expenses will increase as we advance the anticipated expansion of the Velardeña Operations and exploration, development and commercial production of our properties. The amounts and timing of expenditures, will depend on the progress of our effortsand assumptions related to expand productionprofitability at other than the Velardeña Operations, advanceProperties could include expenditures to maintain our El Quevar project and to continue exploration at these and other exploration properties, the results of consultants' analyses and recommendations, the rate at which operating losses are incurred, prices for our saleable metals, costs of materials and supplies, the execution of any joint venture agreements withpotential strategic partners, if any, and our potential future acquisition of additional properties,acquisitions or other transactions, in addition to other factors, many of which are and will be beyond our control. If our expectations for 2012 proveWe cannot be certain we will be able to be incorrect, we could face substantialgenerate sufficient revenue from the Velardeña Properties or other sources, to achieve profitability and eliminate operating cash lossesflow deficits, or to cease to require additional funding.

We may require additional external financing to fund our continuing business activities in the future.

As of December 31, 2014, we had approximately $8.6 million in cash and be required to significantly change our operating and expansion plans. Wecash equivalents. With anticipated costs during 2015, we expect that our current cash and cash equivalent balance would be depleted to approximately $2.0 million by the advancementend of 2015. Even with the restart of mining at the Velardeña Properties in July 2014, our cash balance for 2015 might not be sufficient to provide adequate cash reserves in the event of decreasing metals prices, unexpected costs in connection with optimization of mining and processing at the Velardeña Properties or developmentto pursue further exploration of our properties in Mexico, requiring us to seek additional funding from equity or debt or from monetization of non-core assets.

We do not have a credit, off-take or other commercial financing arrangement in place that would finance our general and anyadministrative costs and other propertiesworking capital needs to fund our continuing business activities in the future, and we believe that securing credit for these purposes may acquire will requirebe difficult given our limited history and the commitmentcontinuing volatility in global credit and commodity markets. In addition, commercial financing arrangements may not be available on favorable terms or on terms that would not further restrict our flexibility and ongoing ability to meet our cash requirements over a reasonable period of substantial resources. There cantime. Access to public financing has been negatively impacted by the volatility in the credit markets and metals prices, which may affect our ability to obtain equity or debt financing in the future and, if obtained, to do so on favorable terms. We also may not be no assuranceable to obtain funding by monetizing additional non-core exploration or other assets at an acceptable price. We cannot assure you that we will continuebe able to generate revenuesobtain financing to fund our general and administrative costs and other working capital needs to fund our continuing business activities in the future on favorable terms or at all.

Since we have recommenced mining at our Velardeña Properties, we are likely to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with a union in the future and we will ever achieve profitability.remain subject to Mexican labor and employment regulations, which may adversely affect our mining activities and financial condition.

Prior to the suspension of our Velardeña Properties in June 2013, our employees in Mexico were represented by a union, and our relationship with our employees was governed by collective bargaining agreements. Upon recommencement of mining at our Velardeña Properties, our mining activities are not subject to collective bargaining agreements. However, we currently have an agreement with the union that allows us to mine without a full scale collective bargaining agreement, which we will likely have to enter into in the future. Any collective bargaining agreement that we enter into with the union may restrict our mining flexibility in and impose additional costs on our mining activities. In addition, relations between us and our employees in Mexico may be affected by changes in regulations or labor union requirements regarding labor relations that may be introduced by the Mexican authorities or by labor unions. Changes in legislation or in the relationship between us and our employees may have a material adverse effect on our mining activities and financial condition.

Our ability to successfully conduct mining and processing activities at our Velardeña Properties and potentially obtain long-term cash flow and profitability from our Velardeña Properties or other properties in the future will be affected by changes in prices of silver, gold and other metals.

Our ability to successfully conduct mining and processing activities at our Velardeña Properties, to establish reserves and advance our exploration properties, and to become profitable in the future, as well as our long-term viability, depend, in large part, on the market prices of silver, gold, zinc, lead, copper and other metals. The market prices for these metals are volatile and are affected by numerous factors beyond our control, including:

·global or regional consumption patterns;

·supply of, and demand for, silver, gold, zinc, lead, copper and other metals;

·speculative activities and hedging activities;

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·expectations for inflation;

·political and economic conditions; and

·supply of, and demand for, consumables required for extraction and processing of metals.

The declines in silver and gold prices in 2013 and 2014 had a significant impact on our mining activities and a similar decline in these prices in the future could negatively affect mining activities at the Velardeña Properties. Additionally, future weakness in the global economy could increase volatility in metals prices or depress metals prices, which could also affect our mining and processing plans at our Velardeña Properties or make it uneconomic for us to engage in mining or exploration activities. Volatility or sustained price declines may also adversely affect our ability to build or continue our business.

Products processed from our Velardeña Properties could contain higher than expected contaminates, thereby negatively impacting our financial condition.

Our mining plan calls for the processing of mined material to make gold and silver bearing lead, zinc and pyrite concentrates. In 2014 we processed mined material to make gold and silver bearing lead and zinc concentrates, and in 2015 we expect to also make saleable pyrite concentrates. Concentrate treatment charges paid to smelters and refineries include penalties for certain elements, including arsenic and antimony that exceed contract limits. It is possible that our concentrates will contain higher amounts of these elements than we anticipate.  This can occur due to unexpected variations in the occurrence of these elements in the material mined, problems that occur during blending of material from various locations in the mine prior to processing and other unanticipated events. If our concentrates include higher than expected contaminants, we would incur higher treatment expenses and penalty charges, which could increase our costs and negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As a result of our business combination with ECU, presents challenges associated with integrating operations, personnel and other aspectswe have assumed all historical ECU liabilities, some of the companies and assumption of liabilities that may exist at ECU andwhich are known or which may bebecome known or unknown by Golden.Golden Minerals.

 On

In September 2, 2011, we completed a business combination with ECU (the "Transaction"“Transaction”), which at that time owned and operated mines in the Velardeña Mining District in the State of Durango, Mexico that produce silver, gold, zinc and lead. Our future operating and financial results will depend in part upon our ability to integrate our business with ECU's business in an efficient and effective manner. Our efforts to integrate two companies that have previously operated independently mayProperties. As a result in significant challenges, and we may be unable to accomplish the integration smoothly or successfully. In particular, the necessity of coordinating geographically dispersed organizations and addressing possible differences in corporate cultures and management philosophies may increase the difficulties of integration. We have not previously conducted mining operations in Mexico. We are dedicating significant management resources to the operation of ECU's former mines in Mexico, which may temporarily distract management's attention from the day-to-day operations of the businesses of the combined company. We are changing certain aspects of the Mexican mining operations and the ways in which the business related to the mining operations was conducted, which is requiring retraining and development of new procedures and methodologies, additions and changes in personnel and other changes. The process of integrating operations and making such adjustments could cause an interruption of, or loss of momentum in, the activities of one or more of our businesses and the loss of key personnel. Employee uncertainty, lack of focus or turnover during the integration process may also disrupt our businesses.

Any inability of management to integrate the operations successfully could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

        In addition,Transaction, we are now subject to the environmental, contractual, tax and other obligations and liabilities of ECU, some of which may be unknown. For example, we received notices from Mexican tax authorities regarding approximately $1.4 million in social security taxes alleged to be due for previous years, which have been paid by us but are currently beingwhich we have challenged for refund. There can be no assurance that we are aware of all obligations and liabilities related to the historical operationsbusiness of ECU. These liabilities, and other liabilities related to ECU's operationsECU’s business not currently known to us or that prove to be more significant than we currently anticipate, could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The presentation of historical financial statements of ECU will not be comparable to the presentation of financial results from the Velardeña Operations.

        Until completion ofProperties, the Transaction, ECU was a publicly-traded Québec corporation whose financial statements, until December 31, 2010, were prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP,El Quevar project and since January 1, 2011, have been prepared in accordance with IFRS. ECU is now our wholly-owned subsidiary, and its financial statements after September 2, 2011 are and will continue to be consolidated with ours and prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Under Canadian GAAP and IFRS, ECU capitalized exploration and development costs incurred during the development stage, including operating expenses at the Velardeña Operations, and offset those capitalized costs with revenue generated from saleable minerals. Under U.S. GAAP, we are reporting operating expenses at the Velardeña Operations as expenses on the statement of operations, and revenues generated from our sales are reported as revenues on the statement of operations. In 2012, this may have the effect of increasing our losses. For example, if ECU had reported in U.S. GAAP on this basis for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010, its net losses would have increased by approximately $2.5 million. Because of these and other differences, ECU's historical financial results related to the Velardeña Operations will not be comparable to the results of those operations as they will appear in our consolidated financial statements.

Our properties may not contain mineral reserves.

 None

We are considered an exploration stage company under SEC Industry Guide 7, and none of the properties at our Velardeña Operations,Properties, the El Quevar project, or any of our other properties have been shown to contain proven or probable mineral reserves. Expenditures made in mining at the Velardeña OperationsProperties or the exploration and advancement of our El Quevar project or other properties may not result in positive cash flow or in discoveries of commercially recoverable quantities of ore. Most exploration projects do not result in the discovery of commercially mineable ore deposits, and we cannot assure you that any mineral deposit we identify will qualify as an orebody that can be legally and economically exploited or that any particular level of recovery from discovered mineralization will in fact be realized.

 Micon International Limited has

Tetra Tech completed a technical reportsreport on our Velardeña Properties, which indicated the presence of mineralized material, and RungePincockMinarco completed a technical report on our El Quevar property, which indicated the presence of "mineralized material," and on the Velardeña District properties formerly owned by ECU, which indicated the presence of measured, indicated and inferred resources.mineralized material. Mineralized material and measured, indicated and inferred resource figures based on estimates made by geologists are inherently imprecise and depend on geological interpretation and statistical inferences drawn from drilling and sampling that may prove to be unreliable or inaccurate. We cannot assure you that these estimates will beare accurate or that proven and probable mineral reserves will be identified at El Quevar, the Velardeña OperationsProperties, El Quevar or any of our other properties. Even if the presence of reserves is established at a project, the economic viability of the project may not justify exploitation. We have spent significant amounts on the evaluation of El Quevar prior to establishing the economic viability of that project.

Estimates of reserves, mineral deposits and productionmining costs also can be affected by factors such as governmental regulations and requirements, fluctuations in metals prices or costs of essential materials or supplies, environmental factors, unforeseen technical difficulties and unusual or unexpected geological formations. In addition, the grade of ore ultimately mined may differ from that indicated by drilling results, sampling, feasibility studies or technical reports. Short termShort-term factors relating to reserves, such as the need for orderly development of ore bodies or the processing of new or different grades, may also have an adverse effect on mining operations and on the results of operations. Silver, gold or other minerals recovered in small scalesmall-scale laboratory tests may not be duplicated in large scalelarge-scale tests under on-site productionprocessing conditions.

We would require substantial external funding to continue the advancement of theThe Velardeña Operations beyond the current phased expansion and for the potential development of the El Quevar project.

        We would require substantial funds from external sources in order to advance the Velardeña Operations beyond the current phased expansion and for the potential development of the El Quevar project, as we do not expect that cash generated by the Velardeña Operations will be sufficient to fund these activities. The size and capital cost for additional expansion of the Velardeña Operations, including the completion of the proposed 2,000 tonne per day sulfide plant, or a possible mine and processing facilities at El Quevar have not been determined and would depend, among other things, on the results of our ongoing efforts to further analyze the potential Velardeña Operations expansion and to further define the Yaxtché deposit at El Quevar. We do not have a credit agreement in place that would finance the completion of the proposed 2,000 tonne per day sulfide plant or the possible development ofProperties, the El Quevar project and we believe that securing credit for these projects may be difficult given our limited history and the continuing volatility in global credit markets. Access to public financing has been negatively impacted by the volatility in the credit markets, which may impact our ability to obtain equity or debt financing in the future and, if obtained, to do so on favorable terms. We also may not be able to obtain funding by monetizing non-core exploration portfolio assets at an acceptable price. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain the necessary financing for the advancement of the Velardeña Operations beyond the current phased expansion or the potential development of the El Quevar project on favorable terms or at all.

Ourother properties are subject to foreign environmental laws and regulations which could materially adversely affect our future operations.business.

We conduct mining activities in Mexico and mineral exploration activities primarily in Argentina Mexico and Peru.Mexico. These countries have laws and regulations that control the exploration and mining of mineral properties and their effects on the environment, including air and water quality, mine reclamation, waste generation, handling and disposal, the protection of different species of flora and fauna and the preservation of lands. These laws and regulations require us to acquire permits and other authorizations for conducting certain activities. In many countries, there is relatively new comprehensive environmental legislation, and the permitting and authorization process may not be established or predictable. We may not be able to acquire necessary permits or authorizations on

27

Title to the Velardeña Properties and our other properties may be defective or may be challenged.

Our policy is to seek to confirm the validity of our rights to, title to, or contract rights with respect to, each mineral property in which we have a material interest. However, we cannot guarantee that title to our properties will not be challenged. Title insurance generally is not available for our mineral properties, and our ability to ensure that we have obtained secure rights to individual mineral properties or mining concessions may be severely constrained. Accordingly, the Velardeña Properties and our other mineral properties may be subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers or claims, and title may be affected by, among other things, undetected defects. In addition, we may be unable to conduct activities on our properties as permitted or to enforce our rights with respect to our properties, and the title to our mineral properties may also be impacted by state action. We have not conducted surveys of all of the exploration properties in which we hold direct or indirect interests and, therefore, the precise area and location of these exploration properties may be in doubt. Accordingly, our mineral properties may be subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers or claims, and title may be affected by, among other things, undetected defects. In addition, we may be unable to operate our properties as permitted or to enforce our rights with respect to our properties, and the title to our mineral properties may also be impacted by state action.

In somemost of the countries in which we operate, failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations relating to mineral right applications and tenure could result in loss, reduction or expropriation of entitlements, or the imposition of additional local or foreign parties as joint venture partners. Any such loss, reduction or imposition of partners could have a material adverse affecteffect on our financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Under the laws of Mexico, mineral resources belong to the state, and government concessions are required to explore for or exploit mineral reserves. Mineral rights derive from concessions granted, on a discretionary basis, by the Ministry of Economy, pursuant to the Mexican mining law and regulations thereunder. We hold title to the concessions comprising the Velardeña OperationsProperties and our other properties in Mexico through these government concessions, but there is no assurance that title to the concessions comprising the Velardeña OperationsProperties and other properties will not be challenged or impaired. The Velardeña OperationsProperties and other properties may be subject to prior unregistered agreements, interests or native land claims, and title may be affected by undetected defects. There maywould be valid challenges to the title of any of the claims comprising the Velardeña OperationsProperties that, if successful, could impair development and operationsmining with respect to such properties in the future. A defect could result in our losing all or a portion of our right, title, and interest in and to the properties to which the title defect relates.

 Mining

Our Velardeña Properties mining concessions and our other mining concessions in Mexico may be terminated if our obligations to maintain the obligations of the concessionaireconcessions in good standing are not satisfied, including obligations to explore or exploit the relevant concession, to pay any relevant fees, to comply with all environmental and safety standards, to provide information to the Ministry of Economy and to allow inspections by the Ministry of Economy. In addition to termination, failure to make timely concession maintenance payments and otherwise comply strictly with applicable laws, regulations and

local practices relating to mineral right applications and tenure could result in reduction or expropriation of entitlements. Additionally, effective in 2014, new mining concessions are now subject to additional review and approval by the Mexico Ministry of Energy.

Mining concessions in Mexico give exclusive exploration and exploitation rights to the minerals located in the concessions but do not include surface rights to the real property, which requires that we negotiate the necessary agreements with surface landowners. Many of our mining properties are subject to the Mexican ejido system requiring us to contract with the local communities surrounding the properties in order to obtain surface rights to land needed in connection with our mining operations or exploration activities. In connection with our Velardeña Operations,Properties, we have contracts with two ejidos to secure surface rights with a total annual cost of approximately $20,000.$35,000. The first contract is with the Vista Hermosa ejido, which is effective through the year 2034 and provides surface rights to the oxide plant, the oxide tailings ponds and the Chicago mine portal. The seconda ten-year contract is with the Velardeña ejido, which was recently renewed for a ten-year term and provides surface rights to certain roads and other infrastructure at the Velardeña Operations.Properties through 2021. The second contract is a 25-year contract with the Vista Hermosa ejido signed in March 2013, which provides exploration access and access rights for roads and utilities for our Velardeña Properties. Our inability to maintain and periodically renew or expand these surface rights on favorable terms or otherwise could have a material adverse effect on our operationsbusiness and financial condition.

Continuation of our mining and processing activities at our Velardeña Properties is dependent on the availability of sufficient water supplies to support our mining activities.

We require significant quantities of water for mining and processing at our Velardeña Properties. Continuous mining and processing is dependent on our ability to maintain our water rights and claims. Water is provided for all of the mines comprising our Velardeña Properties by wells located in the valley adjacent to the Velardeña Properties. We hold title to three wells located near the sulfide plant and hold certificates of registration to three wells located near the oxide plant. We are actively engagedlicensed to pump water from all six wells up to a permitted amount. We are currently only using water from two wells near the sulfide plant and one well near the oxide plant. We are required to make annual payments to the Mexican government to maintain our rights to these wells. In 2014 we made such payments totaling approximately $28,000 and expect to pay approximately the same amount in 2015. We are required to pay a fine to the Mexican Government each year if we use too much water from a particular well or alternatively if we do not use a minimum amount of water from a particular well. In addition to these fines, the Mexican Government reserves the right to cancel our

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joint venture. For example, in 2009, ECU received a notice of arbitration from Golden Tag Resources Ltd. The dispute was settled in September 2010 and resulted in an increase in ECU'sECU’s mining property costs of approximately $61,000. Additionally, if Golden Tag Resources Ltd. exercises its right to acquire an additional 10% interest, our ability to control exploration and advancement will be further reduced.

We depend on the services of key executives.

Our business strategy is based on leveraging the experience and skill of our management team. We are dependent on the services of key executives, including Jeffrey Clevenger, David Drips (who manages our Velardeña Operations), Jerry Danni, Robert Vogels and Warren Rehn. Due to our relatively small size, the loss of any of these persons or our inability to attract and retain additional highly skilled employees may have a material adverse effect on our business and our ability to manage and succeed in our developmentmining and exploration activities.

The exploration of our mineral properties is highly speculative in nature, involves substantial expenditures and is frequently non-productive.

 Our future growth and profitability may depend, in large part, on the costs and results of our exploration programs at the El Quevar project, certain of our exploration portfolio properties, and other properties that we do not currently hold.

Mineral exploration is highly speculative in nature and is frequently non-productive. Substantial expenditures are required to:

•

·establish mineral reserves through drilling and metallurgical and other testing techniques;



·

•

determine metal content and metallurgical recovery processes to extractprocess metal from the ore;



·

•

determine the feasibility of mine development and production; and



·

•

construct, renovate or expand mining and processing facilities.

If we discover ore at a property, it usually takes several years from the initial phases of exploration until production is possible. During this time, the economic feasibility of a project may change because of increased costs, lower metal prices or other factors. As a result of these uncertainties, we may not successfully acquire additional mineral rights, or our exploration programs may not result in proven and probable reserves at all or in sufficient quantities to justify developing the El Quevar project or any of our exploration properties.

The decisions about future developmentadvancement of exploration projects may be based on feasibility studies, which derive estimates of mineral reserves, operating costs and project economic returns. Estimates of economic returns are based, in part, on assumptions about future metal prices and estimates of average cash operating costs based upon, among other things:

•

·anticipated tonnage, grades and metallurgical characteristics of ore to be mined and processed;



·

•

anticipated recovery rates of silver and other metals from the ore;



·

•

cash operating costs of comparable facilities and equipment; and



·

•

anticipated climatic conditions.

Actual cash operating costs, production and economic returns may differ significantly from those anticipated by our studies and estimates.

Lack of infrastructure could forestall or prevent further exploration and development.advancement.

Exploration activities, as well as any developmentadvancement activities, depend on adequate infrastructure. Reliable roads, bridges, power sources and water supply are important factors that affect capital and operating costs and the feasibility and economic viability of a project. Unanticipated or higher than expected costs and unusual or infrequent weather phenomena, or government or other interference in

the maintenance or provision of such infrastructure, could adversely affect our operations,business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Our exploration activities are in countries with developing economies and are subject to the risks of political and economic instability associated with these countries.

We currently conduct exploration activities almost exclusively in Latin American countries with developing economies, including Argentina Mexico and Peru.Mexico. These countries and other emerging markets in which we may conduct operationsbusiness have from time to time experienced economic or political instability. We may be materially adversely affected by risks associated with conducting exploration activities in countries with developing economies, including:

•

·political instability and violence;



·

•

war and civil disturbance;



·

•

acts of terrorism or other criminal activity;



·

•

expropriation or nationalization;



·

•

changing fiscal, royalty and tax regimes;



·

•

fluctuations in currency exchange rates;



·

•

high rates of inflation;



·

•

uncertain or changing legal requirements respecting the ownership and maintenance of mineral properties, mines and mining operations,activities, and inconsistent or arbitrary application of such legal requirements;



·

•

underdeveloped industrial and economic infrastructure;



·

•

corruption; and



·

•

unenforceability of contractual rights.

Changes in mining or investment policies or shifts in the prevailing political climate in any of the countries in which we conduct exploration activities could adversely affect our business.

We explore and operatemine in countries that may be adversely affected by changes in the local government'sgovernment’s policies toward or laws governing the mining industry, including for example the recent presidential decree in Argentina regarding the repatriation of export proceeds.industry.

We currently conducthave mining operationsactivities in Mexico and exploration activities primarily in Mexico and South America.Argentina. In these regions there exist uncertainties regarding future changes in applicable law related to mining and exploration. For instance, effective January 2014, amendments to the Mexico federal corporate income tax law require titleholders of mining concessions to pay annually a 7.5% duty of their mining related profits and a 0.5% duty on October 26, 2011,revenues obtained from the presidentsale of gold, silver and platinum. These additional duties applicable to Mexico mining concession titleholders will have a significant impact on the annual costs applicable to the Velardeña Properties if we have mining related profits or significant revenues in the future.

Additionally, effective January 2015, the Argentina announced,National Mining Code was amended, increasing the annual canon payment by wayapproximately four times. As a result, we expect our annual canon fees payable to the Argentine government to increase from approximately $35,000 in 2014 to approximately $110,000 in 2015.

Furthermore, as a result of the termination of a presidential decree, that mining companies with operations inbilateral tax treaty among Spain and Argentina will now have(terminated January 2013), certain beneficial tax treatment arising from equity ownership between our Spain and Argentina subsidiaries was eliminated. Consequently, we recorded a liability of approximately $0.3 million as of December 31, 2014 and could be liable for up to repatriate all their export proceeds. Under the new decree, all export revenues generated by mining companies will be repatriated into Argentinaan additional $0.7 million stemming from a tax audit of this equity tax for local foreign-exchange conversion prior to transfer overseas. This decree overturns a previous exemption for mining companies from Argentina's currency repatriation laws that apply to oil and gas producers in the country. Consequently, if we ultimately produce minerals from the El Quevar project in Argentina, the new repatriation policy may increase foreign exchange transaction costs. years 2009 through 2012.

In addition to the risk of increased transaction costs, we do not maintain political risk insurance to cover losses that we may incur as a result of nationalization, expropriation or similar events in Mexico or Argentina or other Latin American countries in whichwhere we explore or operate.

We may lose rights to properties if we fail to meet payment requirements or development or production schedules.have mining and processing activities.

 We derive the rights to some of our mineral properties from leaseholds or purchase option agreements that require the payment of option payments, rent or other installment fees or specified expenditures. If we fail to make these payments when they are due, our rights to the properties may terminate. Some contracts with respect to our mineral properties require development or production schedules. If we are unable to meet any or all of the development or production schedules, we could lose all or a portion of our interests in such properties. Moreover, we are required in certain instances to make payments to governments in order to maintain our rights to our mineral properties. The failure to make timely maintenance payments can result in the loss of our rights in the related mineral properties.

We compete against larger and more experienced companies.

The mining industry is intensely competitive. Many large mining companies are primarily producersmakers of precious or base metals and may become interested in the types of deposits on which we are focused, which include silver, gold and other precious metals deposits or polymetallic deposits containing significant quantities of base metals, including zinc, lead copper and gold.copper. Many of these companies have greater financial resources, operational experience and technical capabilities than we do. We may encounter increasing