Golden Minerals Co

INDEX

Unless otherwise specified, all dollar amounts are expressed in United States dollars and all references to “dollars” or “$” are to United States dollars.

References herein to the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “Golden Minerals” refer to Golden Minerals Company and, unless context requires otherwise, its subsidiaries.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some information contained in or incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Form 10-K”) may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other applicable securities laws. We use the words “anticipate,” “continue,” “likely,” “estimate,” “expect,” “may,” “could,” “will,” “project,” “should,” “believe” and similar expressions (including negative and grammatical variations) to identify forward- looking statements. These statements include comments relating to (i) our anticipated near-term capital needs and potential sources of capital; (ii) our plans regarding further advancement of the El Quevar project and reimbursements paid by Barrick under the Earn-in Agreement, to fund the El Quevar project; (iii) information regarding the Yoquivo property, including the estimates included in our initial mineral resource study, our future evaluation and drilling plans, information gained from drilling activities, and exploration activities; (iv) expectations pertaining to the recovery of VAT refunds from the Mexican government; (v) projected revenue and spending for the twelve months ending December 31, 2024; and (vi) statements concerning our financial condition, business strategies, business and legal risks, and our financial outlook for 2024, including anticipated expenditures and cash inflows during the year. Although we believe the expectations and assumptions reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that these expectations and assumptions will prove to be correct Our actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors described in this Form 10-K, including:

Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such expectations may prove to be materially incorrect due to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. You should not unduly rely on any of our forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this annual report on Form 10-K. Except as required by law, we are not obligated to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or developments. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us and persons acting on our behalf are qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in this section and elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

CONVERSION TABLE

In this Form 10-K, figures are presented in both United States standard and metric measurements. Conversion rates from United States standard measurement systems to metric and metric to United States standard measurement systems are provided in the table below. All currency references in this Form 10-K are to United States dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

GLOSSARY OF SELECTED MINING TERMS

“Base Metal” means a classification of non-ferrous metals usually considered to be of low value and higher chemical activity when compared with the precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, etc.). This nonspecific term generally refers to the high-volume, low-value metals copper, lead, tin, and zinc.

“Breccia” means rock consisting of fragments, more or less angular, in a matrix of finer-grained material or of cementing material.

“Calcareous Clastic” means sedimentary rock composed of siliciclastic particles usually of conglomerate, sand, or silt-size and cemented by calcium carbonate in the form of calcite.

“Claim” means a mining interest giving its holder the right to prospect, explore for and exploit minerals within a defined area.

“Concentrates” means the partially cleaned product of potentially economically interesting metal-bearing minerals separated from its containing rock or earth by froth flotation or other methods of mineral separation.

“Concession” means a grant or lease of a tract of land made by a government or other controlling authority in return for stipulated services or a promise that the land will be used for a specific purpose.

“Core Drill” means a rotary type of rock drill that cuts a core of rock and is recovered in long cylindrical sections, usually two centimeters or more in diameter.

**“Crown Pillar”**means a rock mass of variable geometry that is situated above the uppermost underground workings of a mine and that serves to ensure permanently or temporarily the stability of surface elements and underground workings.

“Deposit” means an informal term for an accumulation of minerals.

“Development Stage” means a project with an established resource, not in production, engaged in the process of additional studies preparing for completion of a feasibility study or for commercial extraction.

“Diorite” means a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar, biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene.

“Euhedral” means a well-developed degree of which mineral grains show external crystal faces.

“Exploration Stage” means a property that has no mineral reserves disclosed.

“Exploration Target” means a statement or estimate of the exploration potential of a mineral deposit in a defined geological setting where the statement or estimate, quoted as a range of tonnage and a range of grade (or quality), relates to mineralization for which there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a mineral resource.

“Feasibility Study” means a comprehensive technical and economic study of the selected development option for a mineral project, which includes detailed assessments of all applicable modifying factors, as defined by this section, together with any other relevant operational factors, and detailed financial analysis that are necessary to demonstrate, at the time of reporting, that extraction is economically viable. The results of the study may serve as the basis for a final decision by a proponent or financial institution to proceed with, or finance, the development of the project.

“Flotation” means the separating of finely crushed minerals from one another by causing some to float in a froth and others to remain in suspension in the pulp. Oils and various chemicals are used to activate, make floatable, or depress the minerals.

“Formation” means a distinct layer of sedimentary or volcanic rock of similar composition.

“Fracture System” means a set or group of contemporaneous fractures formed by a stress system.

“Grade” means the metal content of mineralized material which for precious metals is usually expressed in troy ounces per ton (2,000 pounds) or in grams per metric tonnes, which contain 2,204.6 pounds or 1,000 kilograms.

“Indicated mineral resource” means that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of adequate geological evidence and sampling. The level of geological certainty associated with an indicated mineral resource is sufficient to allow a qualified person to apply modifying factors in sufficient detail to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. Because an indicated mineral resource has a lower level of confidence than the level of confidence of a measured mineral resource, an indicated mineral resource may only be converted to a probable mineral reserve.

“Inferred mineral resource” means that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. The level of geological uncertainty associated with an inferred mineral resource is too high to apply relevant technical and economic factors likely to influence the prospects of economic extraction in a manner useful for evaluation of economic viability. Because an inferred mineral resource has the lowest level of geological confidence of all mineral resources, which prevents the application of the modifying factors in a manner useful for evaluation of economic viability, an inferred mineral resource may not be considered when assessing the economic viability of a mining project and may not be converted to a mineral reserve.

“Laramide Orogeny” means a period of mountain building in western North America, which started in the Late Cretaceous age, 70 to 80 million years ago, and ended 35 to 55 million years ago.

“Measured mineral resource” means that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of conclusive geological evidence and sampling. The level of geological certainty associated with a measured mineral resource is sufficient to allow a qualified person to apply modifying factors in sufficient detail to support detailed mine planning and final evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. Because a measured mineral resource has a higher level of confidence than the level of confidence of either an indicated mineral resource or an inferred mineral resource, a measured mineral resource may be converted to a proven mineral reserve or to a probable mineral reserve.

“Mineralization” means the concentration of metals within a body of rock.

“Mineral reserve” means an estimate of tonnage and grade or quality of indicated and measured mineral resources that, in the opinion of the qualified person, can be the basis of an economically viable project. More specifically, it is the economically mineable part of a measured or indicated mineral resource, which includes diluting materials and allowances for losses that may occur when the material is mined or extracted.

“Mining” means the process of extraction and beneficiation of mineral reserves or mineral deposits to produce a marketable metal or mineral product. Exploration continues during the mining process and, in many cases, mineral reserves or mineral deposits are expanded during the life of the mine activities as the exploration potential of the deposit is realized.

“Monzodiorite” means coarse-grained igneous rock consisting of essential plagioclase feldspar, orthoclase feldspar, hornblende and biotite, with or without pyroxene, with plagioclase being the dominant feldspar making up 6% to 90% of the total feldspar and varying from oligoclase to andesine in composition. The presence of the orthoclase feldspar distinguishes this rock from a diorite.

“National Instrument 43-101” or “NI 43-101” means the standards of disclosure for mineral projects prescribed by the Canadian Securities Administrators.

“Net Smelter Return Royalty” or “NSR Royalty” means a defined percentage of the gross revenue from a resource extraction operation, less a proportionate share of transportation, insurance, and processing costs.

“Open Pit” means a mine working or excavation open to the surface.

“Ore” means material containing minerals that can be economically extracted.

“Outcrop” means that part of a geologic formation or structure that appears at the surface of the earth.

“Oxide” means mineralized rock in which some of the original minerals have been oxidized (i.e., combined with oxygen).

“Precious Metal” means any of several relatively scarce and valuable metals, such as gold and silver.

“Preliminary Economic Assessment” or “PEA” means a study, other than a pre-Feasibility or Feasibility Study, that includes an economic analysis of the potential viability of mineral resources.

“Probable Mineral Reserves” means the economically mineable part of an indicated and, in some cases, a measured mineral resource.

“Production Stage” means a project that is actively engaged in the process of extraction and beneficiation of mineral reserves or mineral deposits to produce a marketable metal or mineral product.

“Proven Mineral Reserves” means the economically mineable part of a measured mineral resource and can only result from conversion of a measured mineral resource.

“Reclamation” means the process of returning land to another use after mining is completed.

“Recovery” means that portion of the metal contained in the ore that is successfully extracted by processing, expressed as a percentage.

“Resue Mining” means a method of mining wherein the wall rock on one side of the vein is removed before the ore is broken. This allows narrow high grade veins to be mined yielding low dilution with wall rock.

“Sampling” means selecting a fractional part of a mineral deposit for analysis.

“Sediment” means solid fragmental material that originates from weathering of rocks and is transported or deposited by air, water, or ice, or that accumulates by other natural agents, such as chemical precipitation from solution or secretion by organisms, and that forms in layers on the earth’s surface at ordinary temperatures in a loose, unconsolidated form.

“Sedimentary” means formed by the deposition of Sediment.

“S-K 1300” means subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which sets forth the rules and regulations for disclosure by registrants engaged in the mining industry.

“Skarn” means a coarse-grained metamorphic rock formed by the metamorphism of carbonate rock often containing garnet, pyroxene, epidote and wollastonite.

“Stock” means discordant igneous intrusion having a surface exposure of less than 40 square miles.

“Sulfide” means a compound of sulfur and some other metallic element or elements where sulfur is in the unoxidized form.

“Tailings Pond” means a low-lying depression used to confine tailings, the prime function of which is to allow enough time for processed minerals to settle out or for cyanide to be destroyed before water is reused, evaporates, or is discharged into the local watershed.

“Tertiary” means the first period of the Cenozoic Era (after the Cretaceous of the Mesozoic Era and before the Quaternary) thought to have covered the span of time between 2 to 3 million years ago and 65 million years ago.

“Vein” means a fissure, fault or crack in a rock filled by minerals that have traveled upwards from some deep source.

“Waste” means rock lacking sufficient grade and/or other characteristics of ore.