Company History
The Company was originally incorporated under the laws of the State of Idaho on November 9, 1935, under the name of Montgomery Mines, Inc. In April, 1978 controlling interest in the Montgomery Mines Corporation was obtained by a group of the Thunder Mountain property holders who then changed the corporate name to Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc. with the primary goal to further develop their holdings in the Thunder Mountain Mining District, Valley County, Idaho.
Change in Situs and Authorized Capital
The Company moved its situs from Idaho to Nevada, but maintains its corporate offices in Garden City, Idaho. On December 10, 2007, articles of incorporation were filed with the Secretary of State in Nevada for Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc., a Nevada Corporation. The Directors of Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc. (Nevada) were the same as for Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc. (Idaho).
On January 25, 2008, the shareholders approved the merger of Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc. (Idaho) with Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc. (Nevada), which was completed by a share for share exchange of common stock. The terms of the merger were such that the Nevada Corporation was the surviving entity. The number of authorized shares for the Nevada Corporation is 200,000,000 shares of common stock with a par value of $0.001 per share and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share.
The Company is structured as follows: The Company owns 100% of the outstanding stock of Thunder Mountain Resources, Inc., a Nevada Corporation. Thunder Mountain Resources, Inc. owns 100% of the outstanding stock of South Mountain Mines, Inc., an Idaho Corporation.
We have no patents, licenses, franchises or concessions which are considered by the Company to be of importance. The business is not of a seasonal nature. Since the potential products are traded in the open market, we have no control over the competitive conditions in the industry. There is no backlog of orders.
There are numerous Federal and State laws and regulation related to environmental protection, which have direct application to mining and milling activities. The more significant of these laws deal with mined land reclamation and wastewater discharge from mines and milling operations. We do not believe that these laws and regulations as presently enacted will have a direct material adverse effect on our operations.
Subsidiary Companies
On May 21, 2007, the Company filed Articles of Incorporation with the Secretary of State in Nevada for Thunder Mountain Resources, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc. G. Peter Parsley was appointed as President, Secretary, Treasurer and sole Director. The financial information for the new subsidiary is included in the consolidated financial statements.
On September 27, 2007, Thunder Mountain Resources, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thunder Mountain Gold, Inc., completed the purchase of all the outstanding stock of South Mountain Mines, Inc., an Idaho corporation. The sole asset of South Mountain Mines, Inc. consists of seventeen patented mining claims, totaling approximately 326 acres, located in the South Mountain Mining District, Owyhee County, Idaho.
Current Operations
Thunder Mountain Gold is a mineral exploration stage company with no producing mines. The Company intends to remain in the business of exploring for mining properties that have the potential to produce gold, silver, base metals and other commodities.
Reports to Security Holders
The Registrant does not issue annual or quarterly reports to security holders other than the annual Form 10-K and quarterly Forms 10-Q as electronically filed with the SEC. Electronically filed reports may be accessed at www.sec.gov. Interested parties also may read and copy any materials filed with the SEC at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 450 Fifth Street, N. W., Washington, D.C. 20549. Information may be obtained on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1 (800) SEC-0330.
ITEM 1A - RISK FACTORS
Our business, operations, and financial condition are subject to various risks. This is particularly true since we are in the business of conducting exploration for mineral properties that have the potential for discovery of economic mineral resources. We urge you to consider the following risk factors in addition to the other information contained in, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K:
We have no income and resources and we expect losses to continue for at least the next three years.
Our only continuing source of funds is through sales of equity positions received from investors, which may not be sufficient to sustain our operations. Any additional funds required would have to come from the issuance of debt or the sale of our common stock. There is no guarantee that funds would be available from either source. If we are unsuccessful in raising additional funds, we will not be able to develop our properties and will be forced to liquidate assets.
We have no proven reserves.
We have no proven reserves at any of our properties. We only have indicated and inferred, along with assay samples at South Mountain; and assay samples at some of our other exploration properties.
We will likely need to raise additional capital to continue our operations, and if we fail to obtain the capital necessary to fund our operations, we will be unable to continue our exploration efforts and may have to cease operations.
At December 31, 2011, we had current assets of $111,755. We are planning to raise additional funds in 2012 to meet our current operating and capital requirements for the next 12 months. However, we have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we cannot assure that estimates and assumptions will remain unchanged. For the year ended December 31, 2011 net cash used for operating activities was approximately $633,000. Our future liquidity and capital requirements will depend on many factors, including timing, cost and progress of our exploration efforts, our evaluation of, and decisions with respect to, our strategic alternatives, and costs associated with the regulatory approvals. If it turns out that we do not have enough money to complete our exploration programs, we will try to raise additional funds from public offerings, private placements or loans.
We know that additional financing will be required in the future to fund our planned operations. We do not know whether additional financing will be available when needed or on acceptable terms, if at all. If we are unable to raise additional financing when necessary, we may have to delay our exploration efforts or any property acquisitions or be forced to cease operations. Collaborative arrangements may require us to relinquish our rights to certain of our mining claims.
We believe that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern
We have never generated net income from our exploration efforts and we have incurred significant net losses in each year since inception. Our accumulated deficit as of December 31, 2011 was $3,461,093. We expect to continue to incur substantial additional losses for the foreseeable future, and we may never become profitable. Our ability to achieve and maintain profitability and positive cash flow is dependent upon our ability to locate and ultimately operate proven or probable precious metals reserves, our ability to generate positive net revenues and our ability to reduce our operating costs.
Based upon current plans, we expect to incur operating losses in future periods. This will happen because our exploration costs are greater than nonexistent revenue. Continued failure to generate revenues could cause us to go out of business.
Our financial statements, for the year ended December 31, 2011, were audited by our independent registered public accountants, whose report includes an explanatory paragraph stating that the financial statements have been prepared assuming we will continue as a going concern and that we have incurred operating losses since inception that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
We believe that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern due to our total accumulated deficit of $3,461,093 as of December 31, 2011. Our plans for our continuation as a going concern include financing our operations through sales of unregistered common stock and the exercising of stock options by our officers, directors and originators. If we are not successful with our plans, equity holders could then lose all or a substantial portion of their investment.
Our exploration efforts may be adversely affected by metals price volatility causing us to cease exploration efforts.
We have no earnings. However, the success of any exploration efforts is derived from the price of metal prices that are affected by numerous factors including: 1) expectations for inflation; 2) investor speculative activities; 3) relative exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to other currencies; 4) global and regional demand and production; 5) global and
regional political and economic conditions; and 6) production costs in major producing regions. These factors are beyond our control and are impossible for us to predict.
There is no guarantee that current favorable prices for metals and other commodities will be sustained. If the market prices for these commodities fall we will temporarily suspend or cease exploration efforts.
Our mineral exploration efforts may not be successful.
Mineral exploration is highly speculative. It involves many risks and often does not produce positive results. Even if we find a valuable mineral deposit, it may be three years or more before production is possible because of the need for additional detailed exploration, pre-production studies, permitting, financing, construction and start up.
During that time, it may become economically unfeasible to produce those minerals. Establishing ore reserves requires us to make substantial capital expenditures and, in the case of new properties, to construct mining and processing facilities. As a result of these costs and uncertainties, we will not be able to develop any potentially economic mineral deposits.
We face strong competition from other mining companies for the acquisition of new properties.
If we do find an economic mineral reserve, and it is put into production, it should be noted that mines have limited lives and as a result, we need to continually seek to find new properties. In addition, there is a limited supply of desirable mineral lands available in the United States or elsewhere where we would consider conducting exploration activities. Because we face strong competition for new properties from other exploration and mining companies, some of whom have greater financial resources than we do, we may be unable to acquire attractive new mining properties on terms that we consider acceptable.
Mining operations may be adversely affected by risks and hazards associated with the mining industry.
Mining operations involve a number of risks and hazards including: 1) environmental hazards; 2) political and country risks; 3) industrial accidents; 4) labor disputes; 5) unusual or unexpected geologic formations; 6) high wall failures, cave-ins or explosive rock failures, and; 7) flooding and periodic interruptions due to inclement or hazardous weather conditions. Such risks could result in: 1) damage to or destruction of mineral properties or producing facilities; 2) personal injury; 3) environmental damage; 4) delays in exploration efforts; 5) monetary losses, and; 6) legal liability.
We have no insurance against any of these risks. To the extent we are subject to environmental liabilities, we would have to pay for these liabilities. Moreover, in the event that we ever become an operator of a mine, and unable to fully pay for the cost of remedying an environmental problem, should they occur, we might be required to suspend operations or enter into other interim compliance measures.
Because we are small and do not have much capital, we must limit our exploration. This may prevent us from realizing any revenues, thus reducing the value of the stock and you may lose your investment as a result.
Because our Company is small and does not have much capital, we must limit the time and money we expend on exploration of interests in our properties. In particular, we may not be able to: 1) devote the time we would like to exploring our properties; 2) spend as much money as we would like to exploring our properties; 3) rent the quality of equipment or hire the contractors we would like to have for exploration; and 4) have the number of people working on our properties that we would like to have. By limiting our operations, it may take longer to explore our properties. There are other larger exploration companies that could and may spend more time and money exploring the properties that we have acquired.
We will have to suspend our exploration plans if we do not have access to all the supplies and materials we need.
Competition and unforeseen limited sources of supplies in the industry could result in occasional spot shortages of supplies, like dynamite, and equipment like bulldozers and excavators that we might need to conduct exploration. We have not attempted to locate or negotiate with any suppliers of products, equipment or materials. We will attempt to locate products, equipment and materials after we have conducted preliminary exploration activities on our properties.
If we cannot find the products and equipment we need in a timely manner, we will have to delay or suspend our exploration plans until we do find the products and equipment we need.
We face substantial governmental regulation and environmental risks, which could prevent us from exploring or developing our properties.
Our business is subject to extensive federal, state and local laws and regulations governing mining exploration development, production, labor standards, occupational health, waste disposal, use of toxic substances, environmental regulations, mine safety and other matters. New legislation and regulations may be adopted at any time that results in additional operating expense, capital expenditures or restrictions and delays in the exploration, mining, production or development of our properties.
At this time, we have no specific financial obligations for environmental costs. Various laws and permits require that financial assurances be in place for certain environmental and reclamation obligations and other potential liabilities. Once we undertake any trenching or drilling activities, a reclamation bond and a permit will be required under applicable laws. Currently, we have no obligations for financial assurances of any kind, and are unable to undertake any trenching, drilling, or development on any of our properties until we obtain financial assurances pursuant to applicable regulations to cover potential liabilities.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to detect fraud or report our financial results accurately, which could harm our business and we could be subject to regulatory scrutiny.
Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Section 404”), we are required to perform an evaluation of our internal controls over financial reporting. We have prepared an internal plan of action for compliance with the requirements of Section 404, and have completed our effectiveness evaluation. We have reported two material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, and we cannot guarantee that we will not have any material weaknesses as reported by our independent registered public accounting firm. Continuing compliance with the requirements of Section 404 is expected to be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations.
ITEM 1B - UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Not required for smaller reporting companies.
ITEM 2 - DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTIES
The Company, including its subsidiaries, owns rights to claims and properties in the mining areas of Nevada and Idaho.
The Company owns 100% of the outstanding stock of Thunder Mountain Resources, Inc., a Nevada Corporation. Thunder Mountain Resources, Inc. owns 100% of the outstanding stock of South Mountain Mines, Inc., an Idaho Corporation. South Mountain Mines, Inc. owns the South Mountain Project. Thunder Mountain Resources, Inc. completed the direct purchase of 100% ownership of South Mountain Mines, Inc. on September 27, 2007.
South Mountain Project, Owyhee County, Idaho
The Company’s land package at South Mountain consists of a total of approximately 1,158 acres, consisting of (i) 17 patented claims (326 acres) the Company owns outright; (ii) lease on private ranch land (542 acres); and,, (iii) 21 unpatented lode mining claims on BLM managed land (290 acres). The Company is negotiating for additional private land surrounding the existing land package. We also have applied for leases on Idaho State Lands for approximately 3,100 acres, expected to be finalized during 2011. All holdings are located in the South Mountain Mining District, Owyhee County, Idaho.
The property is located approximately 70 air miles southwest of Boise, Idaho and approximately 24 miles southeast of Jordan Valley, Oregon. It is accessible by highway 95 driving south to Jordan Valley Oregon, then by traveling southeast approximately 22 miles back into Idaho, via Owyhee County road that is dirt and improved to within 4 miles of the base camp. The last 4 miles up the South Mountain Mine road are unimproved county dirt road. The property is accessible year-round to within 4 miles of the property, where the property is accessible from May thru October without plowing snow. There is power to within 4 miles of the site as well. Power generation by generator is required at this time. The climate is considered high desert. The Company has water rights on the property, and there is a potable spring on the property that once supplied water to the main camp.
A detailed list of the claims is as follows:
Patented Ground owned by Thunder Mountain Gold. Seventeen (17) patented mining claims totaling 326 acres:
Patent No. 32995 dated September 17, 1900 (Mineral Survey No. 1446)
Patent No. 32996 dated September 17, 1900 (Mineral Survey No. 1447)
Patent No. 1237144 dated October 27, 1964 (Mineral Survey No. 3400)
Unpatented Ground 100% controlled by Thunder Mountain Gold. Twenty one (21) unpatented mining claims totaling 290 acres:
The claim maintenance fees and assessment for these claims is financed by the Company through sales of unregistered common stock .
The leased private land also includes all surface rights. There is a 3% net smelter return royalty payable to the landowners. The parcels are leased for 20 years with the right to renew and the option to purchase outright. Annual expenses for the leases and claims are as follows:
The historic production peaked during World War II when, base on smelter receipts, the production of direct shipped ore totaled 53,653 tons containing 3,118 ounces of gold, 566,439 ounces of silver, 13,932 pounds of copper, 2,562,318 pounds of lead and 15,593,061 pounds of zinc. In addition to the direct-ship ore, a flotation mill was constructed and operated during the late-1940s and early-1950s. There is no production information available on the tons, grade and concentrate associated with that phase of the operation, but it is estimated that between 30,000 and 40,000 tons of ore were mined and process based on the estimated tonnage of mill tailings.
South Mountain Mines controlled the patented claims from 1975 to the time the Company purchased the entity in 2007. They conducted extensive exploration work including extending the Sonneman Level by approximately 1,500 feet to intercept the downdip extension of the Texas sulfide mineralization mined on the Laxey Level some 300 feet above the Sonneman. High grade sulfide mineralization was intercepted on the Sonneman Extension. In 1985 they did a feasibility study based on polygonal ore blocks exposed in the underground workings and drilling. This resulted in a historic resource of approximately 470,000 tons containing 23,500 ounces of gold, 3,530,000 ounces of silver, 8,339,000 pounds of copper, 13,157,000 pounds of lead and 91,817,000 lbs of zinc. Although they determined positive economics, the project was shut down and placed into care and maintenance.
In 2008, the Company engaged Kleinfelder West, Inc., a nationwide engineering and consulting firm, to complete a technical report “Resources Data Evaluation, South Mountain Property, South Mountain Mining District, Owyhee County, Idaho”. The technical report was commissioned by Thunder Mountain Resources, Inc. to evaluate all the existing data available on the South Mountain property. Kleinfelder utilized a panel modeling method using this data to determine potential mineralized material remaining and to make a comparison with the resource determined by South Mountain Mines in the mid-1980s.
Additional drilling and sampling will be necessary before the resource can be classified as a mineable reserve, but Kleinfelder West’s calculations provided a potential resource number that is consistent with South Mountain Mines’ (Bowes 1985) reserve model.
During the 2008 field season two core drill holes were drilled to test the downdip extension of the sulfide mineralization in the main mine area, one on the DMEA2 ore shoot and one on the Texas ore shoot. The DMEA 2 target was successful, with two distinct sulfide zones totaling 30 feet being encountered in an overall altered and mineralized intercept of approximately 73 feet. The samples over the entire intercept were detail sampled over the entire 73 feet resulting in a total of 34 discrete sample intervals ranging from 0.5 to 3.7 feet. The samples cut at the Company’s office in Garden City, Idaho and Company personnel delivered the samples to ALS Chemex preparation lab in Elko, Nevada. The analytical results showed two distinct zones of strong mineralization.
These intercepts are down dip approximately 300 feet below of the DMEA 2 mineralized zone encountered in Sonneman Level tunnel, and 600 feet below the DMEA 2 zone on the Laxey Level tunnel. The tenor of mineralization the DMEA 2 on the Sonneman is similar to that intercepted in the core hole, including two distinct zones with differing grades.
The second drill hole, TX-1, was designed to test the Texas Ore Shoot approximately 300 feet down dip of the Sonneman Level. The small core hole achieved a depth of 1250 feet, but deviated parallel to the bedding and the targeted carbonate horizon was not intercepted.
Late in 2009, the Company contracted with Gregory P. Wittman (a Qualified Person under Canadian regulations) of Northwestern Groundwater & Geology to incorporate all the new drill and sampling data into an NI 43-101 Technical Report. This report was needed as part of the Company’s efforts to obtain a listing on the TSX Venture Exchange in 2010. The NI 43-101 can be reviewed on the Company`s website at www.thundermountaingold.com, or on www.SEDAR.com.