14.Financial Instruments

 

The Company’s financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, restricted cash, deposits, accounts payable and accrued liabilities and notes payable. The Company is exposed to risks related to changes in interest rates and management of cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments.

 

Credit risk

 

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash. These assets include Canadian dollar and U.S. dollar denominated certificates of deposits, money market accounts and demand deposits. These instruments are maintained at financial institutions in Canada and the United States. Of the amount held on deposit, approximately $0.7 million is covered by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation or the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, leaving approximately $15.2 million at risk at March 31, 2017 should the financial institutions with which these amounts are invested be rendered insolvent. The Company does not consider any of its financial assets to be impaired as of March 31, 2017.

 

All of the Company’s customers have Moody’s Baa or greater ratings and purchase from the Company under contracts for set prices and payment terms.

 

Liquidity risk

 

Liquidity risk is the risk that the Company will not be able to meet its financial obligations as they come due.

 

As at March 31, 2017, the Company’s financial liabilities consisted of trade accounts payable and accrued trade and payroll liabilities of $3.1 million which are due within normal trade terms of generally 30 to 60 days, a note payable which will be payable over a  period of four years, and asset retirement obligations with estimated completion dates until 2033.

 

On May 27, 2016, we entered into an At Market Issuance Sales Agreement with MLV & Co. LLC and FBR Capital Markets & Co. under which we may, from time to time, issue and sell common shares at market prices on the NYSE MKT or other U.S. market through the distribution agents for aggregate sales proceeds of up to $10,000,000. During 2017, we sold 1,536,169 common shares under the sales agreement at an average price of $0.76 per share for gross proceeds of $1.2 million. After deducting transaction fees and commissions we received net proceeds of $1.1 million.

Sensitivity analysis

 

The Company has completed a sensitivity analysis to estimate the impact that a change in interest rates would have on the net loss of the Company. This sensitivity analysis shows that a change of +/- 100 basis points in interest rate would have a negligible effect on either the three months ended March 31, 2017 or the comparable three months in 2016. The financial position of the Company may vary at the time that a change in interest rates occurs causing the impact on the Company’s results to differ from that shown above.