GOLDEN MINERALS COMPANY 5,497,504 Units Consisting of One Share of Common Stock and A Warrant to Purchase 0.50 of a Share of Common Stock UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

Exhibit 1.1

EXECUTION COPY

GOLDEN MINERALS COMPANY

5,497,504 Units

Consisting of One Share of Common Stock and

A Warrant to Purchase 0.50 of a Share of Common Stock

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

Dated: September 13, 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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EXHIBITS

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GOLDEN MINERALS COMPANY

5,497,504 Units

Consisting of One Share of Common Stock and

A Warrant to Purchase 0.50 of a Share of Common Stock

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

September 13,  2012

▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo Securities, LLC

▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇
▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Golden Minerals Company, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), confirms its agreement with ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo Securities, LLC (“▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo” or the “Underwriter”) with respect to the issue and sale by the Company of a total of 5,497,504 units (the “ Securities”), each unit consisting of (i) one share (each, a “Share”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Stock”) and (ii) a warrant to purchase 0.5 of a share of Common Stock (each, a “Warrant”), and the purchase by the Underwriter of the Securities.  The shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrants are referred to herein as the “Warrant Shares.”  The units will not be issued or certificated. The Shares and the Warrants are immediately separable and will be issued separately, but will be purchased together in the offering. Certain terms used in this Underwriting Agreement (the “Agreement”) are defined in Section 15 hereof.

The Company understands that the Underwriter proposes to make a public offering of the Securities as soon as the Underwriter deems advisable after this Agreement has been executed and delivered.

The Company has prepared and previously delivered to you a prospectus dated October 14, 2011 (the “Base Prospectus”).  Each preliminary prospectus supplement to the Base Prospectus (including the Base Prospectus as so supplemented), that describes the Securities and the offering hereof, that omitted the Rule 430B Information and that was used prior to the filing of the final Prospectus Supplement (as defined below) is herein called a “Preliminary Prospectus.”  The Base Prospectus, together with each Preliminary Prospectus, including the documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 under the 1933 Act, are hereinafter called, collectively, the “Pre-Pricing Prospectus.”  Promptly after the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Company will prepare a prospectus supplement dated September 13, 2012 (the “Prospectus Supplement”) and will file with the Commission the Prospectus Supplement and the Base Prospectus with the Commission, all in accordance with the provisions of Rule 430B and Rule 424(b), and the Company has previously advised you of all information (financial and other) that will be set forth therein.  The Prospectus Supplement and the Base Prospectus, in the form first furnished to the Underwriter

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for use in connection with the offering of the Securities (whether to meet the request of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173(d) or otherwise), including the documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 under the 1933 Act, are herein called, collectively, the “Prospectus.”

SECTION 1.  Representations and Warranties.

(a)           Representations and Warranties by the Company.  The Company represents and warrants to the Underwriter as of the date hereof, as of the Applicable Time, as of the Closing Date referred to in Section 2(c) hereof, and agrees with the Underwriter, as follows:

(1)           Compliance with Registration Requirements. The Company meets the requirements for use of Form S-3 under the 1933 Act and the Securities have been duly registered under the 1933 Act pursuant to the Registration Statement.  Each of the Initial Registration Statement and any post-effective amendments thereto have been declared effective under the 1933 Act and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement has become effective under the 1933 Act or, not later than 8:00 a.m. (New York City time) on the business day immediately after the date of this Agreement, will become effective under the 1933 Act, and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Initial Registration Statement or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement has been issued under the 1933 Act and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, are contemplated by the Commission, and any request on the part of the Commission for additional information has been complied with.  The Initial Registration Statement was initially filed with the Commission on September 30, 2011 and was declared effective by the Commission on October 14, 2011.

(2)           Registration Statement, Prospectus and Disclosure at Time of Sale.  At the respective times that the Initial Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement and any amendments thereto became effective, at each time subsequent to the filing of the Initial Registration Statement that the Company filed an Annual Report on Form 10-K (or any amendment thereto) with the Commission, at each deemed effective date with respect to the Underwriter pursuant to Rule 430B(f)(2), and at the Closing Date, the Initial Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement and any amendments to any of the foregoing complied and will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations and did not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.

At the respective times the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto was filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) or issued, at the Closing Date, and at any time when a prospectus is required (or, but for the provisions of Rule 172, would be required) by applicable law to be delivered in connection with sales of Securities (whether to meet the requests of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173(d) or otherwise), neither the Prospectus nor any amendments or supplements thereto included or will include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or will omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

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As of the Applicable Time (except in the case of clause (z) below) and as of each time prior to the Closing Date that an investor agrees (orally or in writing) to purchase or, if applicable, reconfirms (orally or in writing) an agreement to purchase any Securities from the Underwriter, neither (x) any Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectuses, if any, issued at or prior to the Applicable Time, the Pre-Pricing Prospectus as of the Applicable Time and the information, if any, included on Exhibit F hereto, all considered together (collectively, the “General Disclosure Package”), nor (y) any individual Issuer Limited Use Free Writing Prospectus, when considered together with the General Disclosure Package, nor (z) any Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectuses issued subsequent to the Applicable Time, when considered together with the General Disclosure Package, included or will include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or will omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

Each preliminary prospectus and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements to any of the foregoing filed as part of the Registration Statement or any amendment thereto, or filed pursuant to Rule 424 under the 1933 Act, or delivered to the Underwriter for use in connection with the offering of the Securities, complied when so filed or when so delivered, as the case may be, in all material respects with the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations.

The representations and warranties in the preceding paragraphs of this Section 1(a)(2) do not apply to statements in or omissions from the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by the Underwriter as aforesaid consists of the information described as such in Section 6(b) hereof.

At the respective times that the Initial Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement or any amendment to any of the foregoing were filed and as of the earliest time after the filing of the Initial Registration Statement that the Company or any other offering participant made a bona fide offer of the Securities within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2), and at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an “ineligible issuer” as defined in Rule 405, in each case without taking into account any determination made by the Commission pursuant to paragraph (2) of the definition of such term in Rule 405; and without limitation to the foregoing, the Company has at all relevant times met, meets and will at all relevant times meet the requirements of Rule 164 for the use of a free writing prospectus (as defined in Rule 405) in connection with the offering contemplated hereby.

The copies of the Initial Registration Statement and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement and any amendments to any of the foregoing and the copies of each preliminary prospectus, each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433 and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements to any of the foregoing, that have been or subsequently are delivered to the

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Underwriter in connection with the offering of the Securities (whether to meet the request of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173(d) or otherwise) were and will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to ▇▇▇▇▇, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.  For purposes of this Agreement, references to the “delivery” or “furnishing” of any of the foregoing documents to the Underwriter, and any similar terms, include, without limitation, electronic delivery.

Each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus (if any), as of its issue date and at all subsequent times through the completion of the public offering and sale of the Securities did not, does not and will not include any information that conflicted, conflicts or will conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus that has not been superseded or modified.

(3)           Incorporated Documents.  Except for the fact that the Form 8-K filed on June 7, 2012 was not timely filed, the documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus and the Prospectus, at the respective times when they became or hereafter become effective or at the respective times they were or hereafter are filed with the Commission, complied and will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the 1933 Act, the 1933 Act Regulations, the 1934 Act and the 1934 Act Regulations, as applicable, and did not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.

(4)           Independent Accountants.  The accountants who certified the financial statements and any supporting schedules included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus are independent public accountants as required by the 1933 Act, the 1933 Act Regulations, the 1934 Act, the 1934 Act Regulations as applicable, and the PCAOB.

(5)           Financial Statements.  The financial statements of the Company included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, together with the related schedules (if any) and notes, present fairly the financial position of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries at the dates indicated and the results of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries for the periods specified; and all such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with GAAP applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved and comply with all applicable accounting requirements under the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations, or the 1934 Act and the 1934 Act Regulations, as applicable.  The supporting schedules, if any, included in the Registration Statement present fairly, in accordance with GAAP, the information required to be stated therein.  All “non-GAAP financial measures” (as such term is defined in the rules and regulations of the Commission), if any, contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus comply with Item 10 of Regulation S-K of the Commission to the extent applicable.

(6)           No Material Adverse Change in Business.  Since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package

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and the Prospectus (in each case exclusive of any amendments or supplements thereto subsequent to the date of this Agreement), (A) there has been no material adverse change or any development that would reasonably be expected to result in a material adverse change, in the condition (financial or other), results of operations, business, properties, management or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business (in any such case, a “Material Adverse Effect”); (B) except as otherwise disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (in each case exclusive of any amendments or supplements thereto subsequent to the date of this Agreement), neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has incurred any liability or obligation or entered into any transaction or agreement that, individually or in the aggregate, is material with respect to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has sustained any loss or interference with its business or operations from fire, explosion, flood, earthquake or other natural disaster or calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or disturbance or court or governmental action, order or decree which could reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Effect; and (C) there has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made by the Company on any class of its capital stock.

(7)           Good Standing of the Company.  The Company has been duly organized and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware and has power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and to enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement; and the Company is duly qualified as a foreign corporation to transact business and is in good standing in the State of Colorado and in each other jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except (solely in the case of jurisdictions other than the State of Colorado) where the failure so to qualify or to be in good standing would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(8)           Good Standing of Subsidiaries.  Each Material Subsidiary of the Company has been duly organized and is validly existing as a corporation, limited or general partnership or limited liability company (or foreign equivalent of any of the foregoing), as the case may be, in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its organization, has power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus and is duly qualified as a foreign corporation, limited or general partnership or limited liability company, as the case may be, to transact business and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the failure so to qualify or to be in good standing would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect; all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of each such Material Subsidiary that is a corporation, all of the issued and outstanding partnership interests of each such subsidiary that is a limited or general partnership and all of the issued and outstanding limited liability company interests, membership interests or other similar interests of each such subsidiary that is a limited

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liability company have been duly authorized and validly issued, are fully paid and (except in the case of general partnership interests) non-assessable and are owned by the Company, directly or through subsidiaries, free and clear of any Lien; and none of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of any such Material Subsidiary that is a corporation, none of the issued and outstanding partnership interests of any such Material Subsidiary that is a limited or general partnership, and none of the issued and outstanding limited liability company interests, membership interests or other similar interests of any such Material Subsidiary that is a limited liability company was issued in violation of any preemptive rights, rights of first refusal or other similar rights of any securityholder of such Material Subsidiary or, to the knowledge of the Company, any other person.  The only subsidiaries of the Company are the subsidiaries listed on Exhibit A hereto and Exhibit A accurately sets forth the type of entity and the jurisdiction of organization of each subsidiary and, in the case of any subsidiary which is a partnership or limited liability company, its general partners and managing members, respectively.  Any subsidiaries of the Company which are “significant subsidiaries” as defined by Rule 1-02 of Regulation S-X are listed on Exhibit A hereto under the caption “Material Subsidiaries.”

(9)           Capitalization.  The Company’s authorized capital stock consists of 100,000,000 shares of Common Stock and 10,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock; the issued and outstanding Common Stock is as set forth in the Prospectus (except for subsequent issuances, if any, pursuant to this Agreement, pursuant to employee or director stock option, stock purchase or other equity incentive plans described in the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, upon the exercise of options issued pursuant to any stock option or other equity incentive plans as so described, or upon the exercise of warrants or options described in the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus) and no shares of Preferred Stock are outstanding.  The shares of issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid and non-assessable and were issued in compliance with all applicable foreign, state and federal securities and “blue-sky” laws; and none of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company was issued in violation of any preemptive rights, rights of first refusal or other similar rights of any securityholder of the Company or any other person.

(10)         Authorization of the Agreement and the Warrants.  This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company.  The Warrants, when executed and delivered pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, will be duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company.

(11)         Authorization of Securities.  The Shares to be sold by the Company under this Agreement have been duly authorized for issuance and sale to the Underwriter pursuant to this Agreement and, when issued and delivered by the Company pursuant to this Agreement against payment of the consideration set forth herein, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.  The Warrant Shares have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance pursuant to the terms of the Warrants, and when issued by the Company upon valid exercise of the Warrants and payment of the exercise price, will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.  To the knowledge of the

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Company, no holder of the Securities is or will be subject to personal liability by reason of being such a holder; and the issuance and sale of the Securities (including the Warrant Shares) to be sold by the Company under this Agreement are not subject to any preemptive rights, rights of first refusal or other similar rights of any securityholder of the Company or any other person.

(12)         Description of Securities.  The Common Stock, the authorized but unissued Preferred Stock, all outstanding warrants and convertible securities, and the Company’s charter and bylaws conform in all material respects to the respective statements relating thereto contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and such statements conform in all material respects to the rights set forth in the respective instruments and agreements defining the same.

(13)         Absence of Defaults and Conflicts.  Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is in violation of its Organizational Documents or in default in the performance or observance of any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any Company Document, except (solely in the case of Company Documents other than Subject Instruments) for such defaults that would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect.  The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated herein and in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (including the issuance and sale of the Securities and the use of the proceeds from the sale of the Securities as described in the Pre-Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds”) and compliance by the Company with its obligations under this Agreement do not and will not, whether with or without the giving of notice or passage of time or both, conflict with or constitute a breach of, or default, Termination Event or Repayment Event under, or result in the creation or imposition of any Lien upon any property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries pursuant to, any Company Documents, except (solely in the case of Company Documents other than Subject Instruments) for such conflicts, breaches, defaults or Liens that would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect, nor will such action result in any violation of (i) the provisions of the Organizational Documents of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or (ii) any applicable law, statute, rule, regulation, judgment, order, writ or decree of any government, government instrumentality or court, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective assets, properties or operations, except in the case of clause (ii) only, for such violation that would not result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(14)         Absence of Labor Dispute.  No labor dispute with the employees of the Company or any subsidiary of the Company exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent, and the Company is not aware of any existing or imminent labor disturbance by the employees of any of the principal suppliers, manufacturers, customers or contractors of the Company or any of its subsidiaries which would reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

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(15)         Absence of Proceedings.  There is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or brought by any court or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign, now pending, or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened, against or affecting the Company or any of its subsidiaries which is required to be disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pre-Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus (other than as disclosed therein), or which would reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Effect or to materially and adversely affect the consummation of the transactions contemplated in this Agreement or the performance by the Company of its obligations under this Agreement; the aggregate of all pending legal or governmental proceedings to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or of which any of their respective property or assets is the subject which are not described in the Registration Statement, the Pre-Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, including ordinary routine litigation incidental to the business, would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(16)         Accuracy of Descriptions and Exhibits.  The information in the Pre-Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus under the captions”Description of Securities We Are Offering” and the information in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 under the captions “Business and Properties,” “Risk Factors,” “Legal Proceedings,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” in each case to the extent that it constitutes matters of law, summaries of legal matters, summaries of provisions of the Company’s charter or bylaws or any other instruments or agreements, summaries of legal proceedings, or legal conclusions, is correct in all material respects; all descriptions in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus of any other Company Documents are accurate in all material respects; and there are no franchises, contracts, indentures, mortgages, deeds of trust, loan or credit agreements, bonds, notes, debentures, evidences of indebtedness, leases or other instruments, agreements or documents required to be described or referred to in the Registration Statement, the Pre-Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus or the documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein or to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement or the documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein which have not been so described and filed as required.

(17)         Possession of Intellectual Property.  The Company and its subsidiaries own and possess or have valid and enforceable licenses to use, all patents, patent rights, patent applications, licenses, copyrights, inventions, know-how (including trade secrets and other unpatented and/or unpatentable proprietary or confidential information, systems or procedures), trademarks, service marks, trade names, service names, software, internet addresses, domain names and other intellectual property (collectively, “Intellectual Property”) that is described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or that is necessary for the conduct of their respective businesses as currently conducted, as proposed to be conducted and as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received any notice or is otherwise aware of any infringement of or conflict with rights of others with respect to any Intellectual Property or of any facts or circumstances which would render any Intellectual Property invalid or

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inadequate to protect the interests of the Company or any of its subsidiaries therein; there are no third parties who have or, to the knowledge of the Company, will be able to establish rights to any Intellectual Property of the Company or any of its subsidiaries; there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the Company’s or any subsidiary’s rights in or to any such Intellectual Property, or challenging the validity, enforceability or scope of any such Intellectual Property, or asserting that the Company or any subsidiary infringes or otherwise violates, or would, upon the commercialization of any product or service described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, infringe or violate, any Intellectual Property of others, and the Company is unaware of any facts which could form a reasonable basis for any such action, suit, proceeding or claim; the Company and its subsidiaries have complied with the terms of each agreement pursuant to which any Intellectual Property has been licensed to the Company or any subsidiary, all such agreements are in full force and effect, and no event or condition has occurred or exists that gives or, with notice or passage of time or both, would give any person the right to terminate any such agreement; and there is no patent or patent application that contains claims that interfere with the issued or pending claims of any such Intellectual Property of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or that challenges the validity, enforceability or scope of any such Intellectual Property.

(18)         Absence of Further Requirements.  (A) No filing with, or authorization, approval, consent, license, order, registration, qualification or decree of, any court or governmental authority or agency, domestic or foreign, (B) no authorization, approval, vote or consent of any holder of capital stock or other securities of the Company or creditor of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, (C) no authorization, approval, waiver or consent under any Company Document, and (D) no authorization, approval, vote or consent of any other person or entity, is necessary or required for the authorization, execution, delivery or performance by the Company of this Agreement, for the offering of the Securities as contemplated by this Agreement, for the issuance, sale or delivery of the Securities to be sold by the Company pursuant to this Agreement, or for the consummation of any of the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement, in each case on the terms contemplated by the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, except such as have been obtained under the 1933 Act, the 1933 Act Regulations, the 1934 Act and the 1934 Act Regulations, except for the filing of the Prospectus and any supplements thereto pursuant to Rule 424(b) and the for the conditional approval of the TSX to list the Shares and the Warrant Shares,  and except that no representation is made as to such as may be required under state or foreign securities laws.

(19)         Possession of Licenses and Permits.  The Company and its subsidiaries possess such permits, licenses, approvals, consents and other authorizations (collectively, “Governmental Licenses”) issued by the appropriate federal, state, local or foreign regulatory agencies or bodies necessary to conduct the business now operated by them, except (i) where the failure to so possess any of the foregoing would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, or (ii) as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; the Company and its subsidiaries are in compliance in all material respects

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with the terms and conditions of all such Governmental Licenses, all such Governmental Licenses are valid and in full force and effect; and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such Governmental Licenses which revocation or modification would, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(20)         Title to Property.  The Company and its subsidiaries have good and marketable title to all real property (other than the Mining Claims, as defined below) owned by any of them (if any) and good title to all other properties and assets owned by any of them, in each case, free and clear of all Liens except such as (a) are described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or (b) are not, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, are not required to be disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pre-Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, do not, individually or in the aggregate, materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company or any of its subsidiaries.  Other than the Mining Claims, all real property, buildings and other improvements, and all equipment and other property held under lease or sublease by the Company or any of its subsidiaries is held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases or subleases, as the case may be, with, solely in the case of leases or subleases relating to real property, buildings or other improvements, such exceptions as are not material and do not materially interfere with the use made or proposed to be made of such property and buildings or other improvements by the Company and its subsidiaries, and all such leases and subleases are in full force and effect.  Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received any notice of any claim of any sort that has been asserted by anyone adverse to the rights of the Company or any of its subsidiaries under any of the leases or subleases mentioned above or affecting or questioning the rights of the Company or any of its subsidiaries to the continued possession of the leased or subleased premises or to the continued use of the leased or subleased equipment or other property except for such claims which, if successfully asserted against the Company or any of its subsidiaries, would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect.  All interests in material mining claims, concessions, exploitation or extraction rights or similar rights (“Mining Claims”) that are held by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries are or will be fairly and accurately described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus in all material respects and are in good standing, are valid and enforceable, and are free and clear of any material liens or charges, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(21)         Investment Company Act.  The Company is not, and upon the issuance and sale of the Securities as herein contemplated and the receipt and application of the net proceeds therefrom as described in the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the caption “Use Of Proceeds,” will not be, required to register as an “investment company” or an entity “controlled” by an “investment company” as such terms are defined in the 1940 Act.

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(22)         Environmental Laws.  Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect, (A) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is in violation in any material respect of any federal, state, local or foreign statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, code, policy or rule of common law or any judicial or administrative interpretation thereof, including any judicial or administrative order, consent, decree or judgment, relating to pollution or protection of human health, the environment (including, without limitation, ambient air, surface water, groundwater, land surface or subsurface strata) or wildlife, including, without limitation, laws and regulations relating to the release or threatened release of chemicals, pollutants, contaminants, wastes, toxic substances, hazardous substances, petroleum or petroleum products (collectively, “Hazardous Materials”) or to the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment, storage, disposal, transport or handling of Hazardous Materials (collectively, “Environmental Laws”), (B) the Company and its subsidiaries have all permits, authorizations and approvals required under any applicable Environmental Laws for their operations as currently conducted and are each in compliance in all material respects with their requirements, (C) there are no pending or threatened administrative, regulatory or judicial actions, suits, demands, demand letters, claims, Liens, notices of noncompliance or violation, investigation or proceedings relating to any Environmental Law against the Company or any of its subsidiaries and (D) there are no events or circumstances that would reasonably be expected to form the basis of an order for clean-up or remediation, or an action, suit or proceeding by any private party or governmental body or agency, against or affecting the Company or any of its subsidiaries relating to Hazardous Materials or any Environmental Laws.

(23)         Absence of Registration Rights.  There are no persons with registration rights or other similar rights to have any securities (debt or equity) (A) registered pursuant to the Registration Statement or included in the offering contemplated by this Agreement or (B) except for the rights granted to certain funds affiliated with The Sentient Group in connection with private placements of the Company’s securities to such funds,otherwise registered by the Company under the 1933 Act, and there are no persons with co-sale rights, tag-along rights or other similar rights to have any securities (debt or equity) included in the offering contemplated by this Agreement or sold in connection with the sale of Securities, except in each case for such rights that have been duly waived in writing; and the Company has given all notices required by, and has otherwise complied with its obligations under, all registration rights agreements, co-sale agreements, tag-along agreements and other similar agreements in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

(24)         Parties to Lock-Up Agreements.  Each of the persons listed on Exhibit B hereto has executed and delivered to the Underwriter a lock-up agreement in the form of Exhibit C hereto.  Exhibit B hereto contains a true, complete and correct list of all directors and executive officers of the Company and no officers of the Company are subject to Section 16 of the 1934 Act other than the executive officers listed on Exhibit B hereto.

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(25)         NYSE MKT & TSX.  The outstanding shares of Common Stock are listed on the NYSE MKT and the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) and the Shares and Warrant Shares being sold hereunder by the Company have been approved for listing, subject only to official notice of issuance, on the NYSE MKT, and have been or will by the Closing of the Offering be conditionally approved for listing on the TSX.

(26)         FINRA Matters.  To enable the Underwriter to rely on Rule 5110(b)(7)(C)(i) of FINRA, the Company represents that, (i) as of a date within 60 days of the date of this Agreement, the Company had a non-affiliate, public common equity float of at least $150 million or a non-affiliate, public common equity float of at least $100 million and annual trading volume of at least three million shares and (ii) as of the date of this Agreement, has been subject to the Exchange Act reporting requirements for a period of at least 36 months.

(27)         Tax Returns.  Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company and its subsidiaries have filed all foreign, federal, state and local tax returns that are required to be filed or have obtained extensions thereof, except where the failure so to file would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect, and have paid all taxes (including, without limitation, any estimated taxes) required to be paid and any other assessment, fine or penalty, to the extent that any of the foregoing is due and payable, except for any such tax, assessment, fine or penalty that is currently being contested in good faith by appropriate actions and except for such taxes, assessments, fines or penalties the nonpayment of which would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(28)         Insurance.  The Company and its subsidiaries are insured by insurers of recognized financial responsibility against such losses and risks and in such amounts as are prudent and customary in the businesses in which they are engaged; all policies of insurance and any fidelity or surety bonds insuring the Company or any of its subsidiaries or their respective businesses, assets, employees, officers and directors are in full force and effect; the Company and its subsidiaries are in compliance with the terms of such policies and instruments in all material respects; there are no claims by the Company or any of its subsidiaries under any such policy or instrument as to which any insurance company is denying liability or defending under a reservation of rights clause; neither the Company nor any such subsidiary has been refused any insurance coverage sought or applied for; and neither the Company nor any such subsidiary has any reason to believe that it will not be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage from similar insurers at a cost that would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(29)         Accounting and Disclosure Controls.  The Company and its subsidiaries maintain and have established and maintained effective “internal control over financial reporting” (as defined in Rule 13a-15 of the 1934 Act Regulations).  The Company and its subsidiaries maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (A) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations; (B) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit

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preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP and to maintain asset accountability; (C) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (D) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences.  Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there has not been (1) at any time during the Company’s three consecutive fiscal years ended with and including the Company’s most recent fiscal year for which audited financial statements are included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or at any time subsequent thereto, any material weakness (as defined in Rule 1-02 of Regulation S-X of the Commission) in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated), or (2) any fraud, whether or not material, involving management or other employees who have a role in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and, since the end of the Company’s most recent fiscal year for which audited financial statements are included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there has been no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.  The Company and its subsidiaries have established, maintained and periodically evaluate the effectiveness of “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the 1934 Act); such disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the 1934 Act and the interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included as exhibits to the Registration Statement or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement are recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, and is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its principal executive officer or officers and principal financial officer or officers, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding disclosure.

The Company’s independent public accountants and the audit committee of the Company’s board of directors have been advised of all material weaknesses, if any, and significant deficiencies (as defined in Rule 1-02 of Regulation S-X of the Commission), if any, in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and of all fraud, if any, whether or not material, involving management or other employees who have a role in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, in each case that occurred or existed, or was first detected, at any time during the Company’s three consecutive fiscal years ended with and including the Company’s most recent fiscal year for which audited financial statements are included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or at any time subsequent thereto.

(30)         Compliance with the ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇ Act.  There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or any of the Company’s directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply with any provision of the ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇ Act with which any of them is required to comply, including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications.

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(31)         Pending Proceedings and Examinations; Comment Letters.  The Registration Statement is not the subject of a pending proceeding or examination under Section 8(d) or 8(e) of the 1933 Act, and the Company is not the subject of a pending proceeding under Section 8A of the 1933 Act.  The Company has provided the Underwriter with true, complete and correct copies of any written comments received from the Commission by the Company or its legal counsel or accountants, and of any transcripts made by the Company, its legal counsel or accountants of any oral comments received from the Commission, with respect to the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein and of all written responses thereto (in each case other than comment letters or written responses that are publicly available on ▇▇▇▇▇), and no such comments remain unresolved.

(32)         Absence of Manipulation.  The Company has not taken and will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities.

(33)         Statistical and Market-Related Data.  Any statistical, demographic, market-related and similar data included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company believes to be reliable and accurate and accurately reflect the materials upon which such data is based or from which it was derived, and the Company has delivered true, complete and correct copies of such materials to the Underwriter.

(34)         Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that has resulted or would result in a violation by any such person of the FCPA, including, without limitation, any offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA and the Company and its subsidiaries, and, to the knowledge of the Company, its other affiliates have conducted their businesses in compliance with the FCPA and have instituted and maintain policies and procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to ensure, continued compliance therewith.

(35)         Money Laundering Laws.  The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all applicable jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, “Money Laundering Laws”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving

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the Company or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.

(36)         OFAC.  Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by OFAC; and the Company will not directly or indirectly use any of the proceeds from the sale of Securities by the Company in the offering contemplated by this Agreement, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available any such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by OFAC.

(37)         ERISA Compliance.  Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, none of the following events has occurred or exists: (i) a failure to fulfill the obligations, if any, under the minimum funding standards of Section 302 of ERISA with respect to a Plan (as defined below) determined without regard to any waiver of such obligations or extension of any amortization period; (ii) an audit or investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation or any other federal, state or foreign governmental or regulatory agency with respect to the employment or compensation of employees by the Company or any of its subsidiaries that would reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Effect; or (iii) any breach of any contractual obligation, or any violation of law or applicable qualification standards, with respect to the employment or compensation of employees by the Company or any of its subsidiaries that would reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Effect.  Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, none of the following events has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur: (i) a material increase in the aggregate amount of contributions required to be made to all Plans in the current fiscal year of the Company and its subsidiaries compared to the amount of such contributions made in the Company’s most recently completed fiscal year; (ii) a material increase in the “accumulated post-retirement benefit obligations” (within the meaning of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 106) of the Company and its subsidiaries compared to the amount of such obligations in the Company’s most recently completed fiscal year; (iii) any event or condition giving rise to a liability under Title IV of ERISA that would reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Effect; or (iv) the filing of a claim by one or more employees or former employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries related to its or their employment that would reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Effect.  For purposes of this paragraph and the definition of ERISA, the term “Plan” means a plan (within the meaning of Section 3(3) of ERISA) with respect to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries may have any liability.

(38)         Lending and Other Relationship.  Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, (i) neither the Company

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nor any of its subsidiaries has any lending or similar relationship with any Underwriter or any bank or other lending institution affiliated with any Underwriter; (ii) the Company will not, directly or indirectly, use any of the proceeds from the sale of the Securities by the Company hereunder to reduce or retire the balance of any loan or credit facility extended by any Underwriter or any of its “affiliates” or “associated persons” (as such terms are used in FINRA Rule 5121) or otherwise direct any such proceeds to any Underwriter or any of its “affiliates” or “associated persons” (as so defined); and (iii) there are and have been no transactions, arrangements or dealings between the Company or any of its subsidiaries, on one hand, and any Underwriter or any of its “affiliates” or “associated persons” (as so defined), on the other hand, that, under FINRA Rule 5110 or 5121, must be disclosed in a submission to FINRA in connection with the offering of the Securities contemplated hereby or disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or Prospectus.

(39)         Changes in Management.  Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, none of the persons who were officers or directors of the Company as of the date of the Pre-Pricing Prospectus has given oral or written notice to the Company or any of its subsidiaries of his or her resignation (or otherwise indicated to the Company or any of its subsidiaries an intention to resign within the next 24 months), nor has any such officer or director been terminated by the Company or otherwise removed from his or her office or from the board of directors, as the case may be (including, without limitation, any such termination or removal which is to be effective as of a future date) nor is any such termination or removal under consideration by the Company or its board of directors.

(40)         Transfer Taxes.  There are no stock or other transfer taxes, stamp duties, capital duties or other similar duties, taxes or charges payable in connection with the execution or delivery of this Agreement by the Company or the issuance or sale by the Company of the Securities to be sold by the Company to the Underwriter hereunder.

(41)         Related Party Transactions.  There are no business relationships or related party transactions involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries or, to the knowledge of the Company, any other person that are required to be described in the Pre-Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus that have not been described as required.

(42)         Offering Materials.  Without limitation to the provisions of Section 16 hereof, the Company has not distributed and will not distribute, directly or indirectly (other than through the Underwriter), any “written communication” (as defined Rule 405 under the ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇) or other offering materials in connection with the offering or sale of the Securities, other than the Pre-Pricing Prospectus, the Prospectus, any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing that are filed with the SEC and any Permitted Free Writing Prospectuses (as defined in Section 16).

(43)         No Restrictions on Dividends.  Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is a party to or otherwise bound by any instrument or agreement that limits or prohibits or could limit or prohibit, directly or indirectly, the Company from paying any dividends or making other distributions on its capital stock, and no subsidiary of the

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Company is a party to or otherwise bound by any instrument or agreement that limits or prohibits or could limit or prohibit, directly or indirectly, any subsidiary of the Company from paying any dividends or making any other distributions on its capital stock, limited or general partnership interests, limited liability company interests, or other equity interests, as the case may be, or from repaying any loans or advances from, or (except for instruments or agreements that by their express terms prohibit the transfer or assignment thereof or of any rights thereunder) transferring any of its material properties or assets to, the Company or any other subsidiary, in each case except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(44)         Brokers.  There is not a broker, finder or other party that is entitled to receive from the Company any brokerage or finder’s fee or other fee or commission as a result of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except for underwriting discounts and commissions in connection with the sale of the Securities to the Underwriter pursuant to this Agreement.

(45)         PFIC Status.  The Company was not a “passive foreign investment company” (“PFIC”) as defined in Section 1297 of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), for its most recently completed taxable year and, based on the Company’s current projected income, assets and activities, the Company does not expect to be classified as a PFIC for any subsequent taxable year.

(46)         Interactive Data.  The interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included as exhibits to the Registration Statement or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto.

(b)           Certificates.  Any certificate signed by any officer of the Company or any of its subsidiaries (whether signed on behalf of such officer, the Company or such subsidiary) and delivered to the Underwriter or to counsel for the Underwriter shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company to each Underwriter as to the matters covered thereby.

SECTION 2.  Sale and Delivery to Underwriter; Closing.

(a)           Securities.  On the basis of the representations and warranties herein contained and subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to sell to the Underwriter, and the Underwriter agrees to purchase, the Securities, at a price of $5.4625 per unit (the “Purchase Price”).

(b)           [Intentionally Omitted]

(c)           Payment.  Payment of the purchase price for, and delivery of, the Securities shall be made at the offices of ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Procter LLP, The New York Times Building, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇, or at such other place as shall be agreed upon by the Underwriter and the Company, at 9:00 A.M. (New York City time) on September 19, 2012 (unless postponed in accordance with the provisions of Section 10), or such other time not later

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than five business days after such date as shall be agreed upon by the Underwriter and the Company (such time and date of payment and delivery being herein called “Closing Date”).

Payment shall be made to the Company by wire transfer of immediately available funds to a single bank account designated by the Company, in each case against delivery to the Underwriter of the Securities.

(d)           Delivery of Securities.  Delivery of the Shares comprising the Securities shall be made through the facilities of DTC unless the Underwriter shall otherwise instruct.  Delivery of the Warrants comprising the Securities shall be made in physical, certificated form at the addresses provided by the Underwriter, unless the Underwriter shall otherwise instruct.  Any Securities sold in a Canadian Jurisdiction or to a Canadian resident in accordance with Section 2(e) shall be in physical, certificated form and shall bear the following legend:

“UNLESS PERMITTED UNDER SECURITIES LEGISLATION, THE HOLDER OF THIS SECURITY MUST NOT TRADE THE SECURITY BEFORE JANUARY 19, 2013.

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE LISTED ON THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE (“TSX”); HOWEVER, THE SAID SECURITIES CANNOT BE TRADED THROUGH THE FACILITIES OF THE TSX SINCE THEY ARE NOT FREELY TRANSFERABLE, AND CONSEQUENTLY ANY CERTIFICATE REPRESENTING SUCH SECURITIES IS NOT “GOOD DELIVERY” IN SETTLEMENT OF TRANSACTIONS ON THE TSX.”

(e)           The Underwriter acknowledges and agrees that any Securities that are offered, marketed or sold in any province or territory of Canada (collectively, the “Canadian Jurisdictions”), or to a resident of any Canadian Jurisdiction, will be offered, marketed or sold only on a private placement basis in a manner that is exempt from the prospectus requirements of applicable Canadian securities laws and in a manner that will in no circumstances require the filing of a prospectus by the Company in any Canadian Jurisdiction. Any Securities sold by the Underwriter, or any of its respective affiliates, in any Canadian Jurisdiction, or to a resident of any Canadian Jurisdiction, shall be subject to hold periods under applicable Canadian securities laws and shall be evidenced by physical certificates representing such Securities that bear the legend set forth in Section 2(d). The Underwriter shall use its reasonable efforts to ensure that all purchasers of Securities that are not legended as set forth in Section 2(d) are not in any Canadian Jurisdiction or residents of any Canadian Jurisdiction. The Underwriter agrees that any sales or purchases of Securities in a Canadian Jurisdiction, or to or by a resident of any Canadian Jurisdiction, shall be conducted solely through one or more duly registered Canadian broker-dealer affiliates of the Underwriter in compliance with all applicable Canadian securities laws or otherwise by way of an exemption from the registration requirements of applicable Canadian securities laws that is available to the Underwriter. The Underwriter acknowledges and agrees that any Securities that are offered, marketed or sold in any Canadian Jurisdiction, or to a resident of any Canadian Jurisdiction, will be conducted only by means of a Canadian confidential offering memorandum, based upon the Prospectus with such additional disclosures and notices as are necessary or advisable under Canadian law.

SECTION 3.  Covenants of the Company.  The Company covenants with the Underwriter as follows:

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(a)           Compliance with Securities Regulations and Commission Requests.  The Company, subject to Section 3(b), will comply with the requirements of Rule 430B and Rule 433 and will notify the Underwriter immediately, and confirm the notice in writing, (i) when any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement shall be declared or become effective, or when any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing shall have been filed, (ii) of the receipt of any comments from the Commission (and shall promptly furnish the Underwriter with a copy of any comment letters and any summary of oral comments, and shall furnish the Underwriter with copies of any written responses thereto a reasonable amount of time prior to the proposed filing thereof with the Commission and will not file any such response to which the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall reasonably object), (iii) of any request by the Commission for any amendment to the Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement to any preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus, any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or for additional information, (iv) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing.  The Company will make every reasonable effort to prevent the issuance of any stop order and the suspension or loss of any qualification of the Securities for offering or sale and any loss or suspension of any exemption from any such qualification, and if any such stop order is issued, or any such suspension or loss occurs, to obtain the lifting thereof at the earliest possible moment.

(b)           Filing of Amendments.  The Company will give the Underwriter notice of its intention to file or prepare any amendment to the Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any amendment, supplement or revision to any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, whether pursuant to the 1933 Act or otherwise, and the Company will furnish the Underwriter with copies of any such documents within a reasonable amount of time prior to such proposed filing or use, as the case may be, and will not file or use any such document to which the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall reasonably object.  The Company has given the Underwriter notice of any filings made pursuant to the 1934 Act or the 1934 Act Regulations within 48 hours prior to the Applicable Time.  The Company will give the Underwriter notice of its intention to make any filing pursuant to the 1934 Act or the 1934 Act Regulations from the Applicable Time through the Closing Time (or, if later, through the end of the period during which the Prospectus is required (or, but for the provisions of Rule 172, would be required) to be delivered by applicable law (whether to meet the requests of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173(d) or otherwise)) and will furnish the Underwriter with copies of any such documents a reasonable amount of time prior to such proposed filing, as the case may be, and will not file or use any such document to which the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall object.

(c)           Delivery of Registration Statement.  The Company has furnished or will, at the request of the Underwriter, deliver to the Underwriter and counsel for the Underwriter, without charge, copies of the Registration Statement and of each amendment thereto (including exhibits filed therewith or incorporated by reference therein and documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein or otherwise deemed to be a part thereof) and copies of all consents and certificates of experts.

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(d)           Delivery of Prospectuses.  The Company has delivered to the Underwriter, without charge, as many copies of each preliminary prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto as the Underwriter reasonably requested, and the Company hereby consents to the use of such copies for purposes permitted by the 1933 Act.  The Company will furnish to the Underwriter, without charge, during the period when the Prospectus is required (or, but for the provisions of Rule 172, would be required) to be delivered by applicable law (whether to meet the request of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173(d) or otherwise), such number of copies of the Pre-Pricing Prospectus, the Prospectus and any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any amendments or supplements to any of the foregoing as the Underwriter may reasonably request.

(e)           Continued Compliance with Securities Laws.  The Company will comply with the 1933 Act, the 1933 Act Regulations, the 1934 Act and the 1934 Act Regulations so as to permit the completion of the distribution of the Securities as contemplated by this Agreement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.  If at any time when a prospectus is required (or, but for the provisions of Rule 172, would be required) by the applicable law to be delivered in connection with sales of the Securities (whether to meet the request of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173(d) or otherwise), any event shall occur or condition shall exist as a result of which it is necessary (or if the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall notify the Company that, in their judgment, it is necessary) to amend the Registration Statement or amend or supplement the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus so that the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, as the case may be, will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made or then prevailing, not misleading or if it is necessary (or, if the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall notify the Company that, in their judgment, it is necessary) to amend the Registration Statement or amend or supplement the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus in order to comply with the requirements of the 1933 Act, the 1933 Act Regulations, the 1934 Act or the 1934 Act Regulations, the Company will promptly notify the Underwriter of such event or condition and of its intention to file such amendment or supplement (or, if the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall have notified the Company as aforesaid, the Company will promptly notify the Underwriter of its intention to prepare such amendment or supplement) and will promptly prepare and file with the Commission, subject to Section 3(b) hereof, such amendment or supplement as may be necessary to correct such untrue statement or omission or to comply with such requirements, and, in the case of an amendment or post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement, the Company will use its best efforts to have such amendment declared or become effective as soon as practicable, and the Company will furnish to the Underwriter such number of copies of such amendment or supplement as the Underwriter may reasonably request.  If at any time an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conflicts with the information contained in the Registration Statement or if an event shall occur or condition shall exist as a result of which it is necessary (or, if the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall notify the Company that, in their judgment, it is necessary) to amend or supplement such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus so that it will not include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made or then prevailing, not misleading, or if it is necessary (or, if the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall notify the Company that, in their judgment, it is necessary) to amend or supplement such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in order to comply with the requirements of the 1933 Act or the 1933 Act Regulations, the

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Company will promptly notify the Underwriter of such event or condition and of its intention to file such amendment or supplement (or, if the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall have notified the Company as aforesaid, the Company will promptly notify the Underwriter of its intention to prepare such amendment or supplement) and will promptly prepare and, if required by the 1933 Act or the 1933 Act Regulations, file with the Commission, subject to Section 3(b) hereof, such amendment or supplement as may be necessary to eliminate or correct such conflict, untrue statement or omission or to comply with such requirements, and the Company will furnish to the Underwriter such number of copies of such amendment or supplement as the Underwriter may reasonably request.

(f)            Blue Sky and Other Qualifications.  The Company will use its best efforts, in cooperation with the Underwriter, to qualify the Securities for offering and sale, or to obtain an exemption for the Securities to be offered and sold, under the applicable securities laws of such states and other jurisdictions (domestic or foreign) as the Underwriter may designate and to maintain such qualifications and exemptions in effect for so long as required for the distribution of the Securities (but in no event for a period of not less than one year from the date of this Agreement); provided, however, that the Company shall not be obligated to file any general consent to service of process or to qualify as a foreign corporation or as a dealer in securities in any jurisdiction in which it is not so qualified or to subject itself to taxation in respect of doing business in any jurisdiction in which it is not otherwise so subject, and provided, further, that the Company shall not be required to qualify for distribution of any Securities sold in a Canadian Jurisdiction pursuant to Section 2(e).  In each jurisdiction in which the Securities have been so qualified or exempt, the Company will file such statements and reports as may be required by the laws of such jurisdiction to continue such qualification or exemption, as the case may be, in effect for so long as required for the distribution of the Securities (but in no event for a period of not less than one year from the date of this Agreement).

(g)           Rule 158.  The Company will timely file such reports pursuant to the 1934 Act as are necessary in order to make generally available to its securityholders as soon as practicable an earnings statement for the purposes of, and to provide to the Underwriter the benefits contemplated by, the last paragraph of Section 11(a) of the 1933 Act.

(h)           Use of Proceeds.  The Company will use the net proceeds received by it from the sale of the Securities in the manner specified in the Pre-Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus under “Use of Proceeds.”

(i)            Listing.  The Company will use its best efforts to effect the listing of the Shares and the Warrant Shares on the NYSE MKT and the conditional approval for listing of the Shares and the Warrant Shares on the TSX as and when required by this Agreement.

(j)            Restriction on Sale of Securities.  During the Lock-Up Period (as the same may be extended pursuant to the provisions set forth in the next sentence), the Company will not, without the prior written consent of ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo, directly or indirectly:

(i)            issue, offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend or otherwise transfer or dispose of any shares of Common Stock or other

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capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or other capital stock,

(ii)           file or cause the filing of any registration statement under the 1933 Act with respect to any Common Stock or other capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for any Common Stock or other capital stock (other than any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement filed to register Securities to be sold to the Underwriter pursuant to this Agreement), or

(iii)          enter into any swap or other agreement, arrangement, hedge or transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any Common Stock or other capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for any Common Stock or other capital stock,

whether any transaction described in clause (i) or (iii) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock, other capital stock, other securities, in cash or otherwise, or publicly announce any intention to do any of the foregoing. Moreover, if:

(1)           during the last 17 days of the Lock-Up Period the Company issues an earnings release or material news or a material event relating to the Company occurs, or

(2)           prior to the expiration of the Lock-Up Period, the Company announces that it will release earnings results or becomes aware that material news or a material event relating to the Company will occur during the 16-day period beginning on the last day of the Lock-Up Period,

the Lock-Up Period shall be extended and the restrictions imposed by this Section 3(j) shall continue to apply until the expiration of the 18-day period beginning on the date of issuance of the earnings release or the occurrence of the material news or material event, as the case may be, unless ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo waives, in writing, such extension.  In the event of any extension of the Lock-Up Period pursuant to the immediately preceding sentence, the Company shall notify the Underwriter and each person listed in Exhibit B hereto of such extension as promptly as practicable and in any event prior to the last day of the Lock-Up Period prior to giving effect to such extension.

Notwithstanding the provisions set forth in the immediately preceding paragraph, the Company may, without the prior written consent of ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo:

(1)           issue Securities to the Underwriter pursuant to this Agreement and issue Warrant Shares upon exercise of the Warrants,

(2)           issue shares, and options to purchase shares, of Common Stock and restricted stock units pursuant to stock option plans, stock purchase or other equity incentive plans described in the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, as those plans are in effect on the date of this Agreement, and

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(3)           issue shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of stock options issued under stock option or other equity incentive plans referred to in clause (2) above, as those plans are in effect on the date of this Agreement, or upon the exercise of warrants outstanding on the date of this Agreement, as those warrants are in effect on the date of this Agreement,

(4)           issue shares of Common Stock to one or more counterparties in connection with the consummation of a bona fide strategic partnership, joint venture, collaboration, merger or the acquisition of any Mining Claims or other assets or in connection with any similar transaction; provided that the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock issued under this subsection (4) shall not exceed 20% of the number of Securities, and

(5)           issue Securities to one or more funds affiliated with The Sentient Group in a private placement transaction provided that The Sentient Group does not hold more than 19.9% of the Company’s outstanding Common Stock following completion of such transaction.

provided, however, that in the case of any issuance described in clause (4) above, it shall be a condition to the issuance that each recipient executes and delivers to ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo, not later than one business day prior to the date of such issuance, a written agreement, in substantially the form of Exhibit C to this Agreement and otherwise satisfactory in form and substance to ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo.

(k)           Reporting Requirements.  The Company, during the period when the Prospectus is required (or, but for the provisions of Rule 172, would be required) by applicable law to be delivered (whether to meet the request of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173(d) or otherwise), will file all documents required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to the 1934 Act and the 1934 Act Regulations within the time periods required by the 1934 Act and the 1934 Act Regulations.

(l)            Preparation of Prospectus.  Immediately following the execution of this Agreement, the Company will, subject to Section 3(b) hereof, prepare the Prospectus, which shall contain the selling terms of the Securities, the plan of distribution thereof and such other information as may be required by the 1933 Act or the 1933 Act Regulations or as the Underwriter and the Company may deem appropriate, and if requested by the Underwriter, will prepare an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus containing the information set forth in Exhibit F hereto and such other information as may be required by Rule 433 or as the Underwriter and the Company may deem appropriate, and will file or transmit for filing with the Commission the Prospectus in accordance with the provisions of Rule 430B and in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b) (without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8)) and any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 433.

(m)          New Registration Statement.  If, immediately prior to the third anniversary of the initial effective date of the Registration Statement (the “Renewal Deadline”), any of the Securities remains unsold by the Underwriter, the Company will, prior to the Renewal Deadline, if it has not already done so, file a new registration statement relating to the Securities, and notify the Underwriter when such filing has been made and use its best efforts to cause such registration

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statement to be declared effective within 180 days after the Renewal Deadline.  The Company will furnish the Underwriter with copies of any such new registration statement a reasonable amount of time prior to such proposed filing and, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, will not file any such proposed registration statement to which the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall object.  In any such case, the Company will take all other action as is necessary or appropriate to permit the public offering and sale of the Securities to continue from and after the Renewal Deadline as contemplated in the expired registration statement relating to the Securities.  References in this Agreement to the “Registration Statement” shall include any such new registration statements from and after the time it is filed with the Commission, mutatis mutandis.

(n)           Reservation of Warrant Shares.  To reserve and keep available at all times a sufficient number of shares of Common Stock for the purpose of enabling the Company to issue the Warrant Shares.

SECTION 4.  Payment of Expenses.  Whether or not the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are consummated, the Company will pay all expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, including (i) the preparation, printing and filing of the Registration Statement and each amendment thereto (in each case including exhibits) and any costs associated with electronic delivery of any of the foregoing, (ii) the preparation and delivery to the Underwriter of this Agreement and such other documents as may be required in connection with the offering, purchase, sale, issuance or delivery of the Securities, (iii) the preparation, issuance and delivery of the certificates for the Securities and the issuance and delivery of the Securities to be sold by the Company to the Underwriter, including any stock or other transfer taxes and any stamp or other taxes or duties payable in connection with the sale, issuance or delivery of the Securities to the Underwriter, (iv) the fees and disbursements of the counsel, accountants and other advisors to the Company, (v) the qualification or exemption of the Securities under securities laws in accordance with the provisions of Section 3(f) hereof, including filing fees and the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriter in connection therewith and in connection with the preparation of the Blue Sky Survey and any supplements thereto and the reasonable fee and disbursements of special Canadian counsel for the Underwriter in connection with the preparation of a Canadian “wrapper,” if any, (vi) the preparation, printing and delivery to the Underwriter of copies of each preliminary prospectus, any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements to any of the foregoing and any costs associated with electronic delivery of any of the foregoing, (vii) the preparation, printing and delivery to the Underwriter of copies of the Blue Sky Survey and any Canadian “wrapper” and any supplements thereto and any costs associated with electronic delivery of any of the foregoing, (viii) the fees and expenses of the transfer agent and registrar for the Securities, (ix) the filing fees incident to, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriter in connection with, the review, if any, by FINRA of the terms of the sale of the Securities, (x) the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the listing of the Shares and Warrant Shares on the NYSE MKT and the TSX, (xi) the costs and expenses of the Company and any of its officers, directors, counsel or other representatives in connection with presentations or meetings undertaken in connection with the offering of the Securities, including, without limitation, expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics and the production and hosting of any electronic road shows, fees and expenses of any consultants engaged in connection with road show presentations, and travel,

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lodging, transportation, and other expenses of the officers, directors, counsel and other representatives of the Company incurred in connection with any such presentations or meetings, (xii) the fees and disbursements of the Company’s accountants and legal counsel and (xiii) the reasonable expenses of the Underwriter including the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriter incurred in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby, provided that the amounts to be paid to the Underwriter pursuant to clauses (v), (ix) and (xiii) shall not exceed $125,000, in the aggregate.

SECTION 5.  Conditions of Underwriter’s Obligations.  The obligations of the Underwriter hereunder are subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company contained in this Agreement, or in certificates signed by any officer of the Company or any subsidiary of the Company (whether signed on behalf of such officer, the Company or such subsidiary) delivered to the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter, to the performance by the Company of its covenants and other obligations hereunder, and to the following further conditions:

(a)           Effectiveness of Registration Statement.  The Initial Registration Statement and any post-effective amendments thereto and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, shall have been declared or become effective, as the case may be, and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Initial Registration Statement or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement shall have been issued under the 1933 Act or proceedings therefor initiated or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened by the Commission, and any request on the part of the Commission for additional information shall have been complied with to the reasonable satisfaction of the Underwriter.  The Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b) (without reliance upon Rule 424(b)(8)) and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus required to be filed with the Commission shall have been filed in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 433, and, prior to the Closing Date, the Company shall have provided evidence satisfactory to the Underwriter of such timely filings.

(b)           Opinion of Counsel for Company.  At the Closing Date, the Underwriter shall have received the favorable opinions, dated as of Closing Date, of (i) ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇▇▇▇▇▇ LLP, counsel for the Company (“Company Counsel”), in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriter, to the effect set forth in Exhibit D hereto and to such further effect as the Underwriter may reasonably request, (ii) ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, Sierra & ▇▇▇▇▇▇, S.C., special Mexican counsel to the Company in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriter, to the effect set forth in Exhibit E hereto, (iii) ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ & Carnejo Abogados, special Argentinian counsel to the Company in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriter, to the effect set forth in Exhibit E hereto and to such further effect as the Underwriter may reasonably request.

(c)           Opinion of Counsel for Underwriter.  At the Closing Date, the Underwriter shall have received the favorable letter, dated as of Closing Date, of ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Procter LLP, counsel for the Underwriter, with respect to the Securities to be sold by the Company pursuant to this Agreement, this Agreement, the Initial Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto and such other matters as the Underwriter may reasonably request.

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(d)           Officers’ Certificate.  At the Closing Date there shall not have been, since the date hereof or since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (in each case exclusive of any amendments or supplements thereto subsequent to the date of this Agreement), any material adverse change or any development that would reasonably be expected to result in a material adverse change in the condition (financial or other), results of operations, business, properties, management or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, and, at the Closing Date, the Underwriter shall have received a certificate, signed on behalf of the Company by the President or the Chief Executive Officer of the Company and the Chief Financial Officer or Chief Accounting Officer of the Company, dated as of the Closing Date, to the effect that (i) there has been no such material adverse change, (ii) the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct at and as of the Closing Date with the same force and effect as though expressly made at and as of Closing Date, (iii) the Company has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to Closing Date under or pursuant to this Agreement, and (iv) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, are contemplated by the Commission.

(e)           Accountant’s Comfort Letter.   At the time of the execution of this Agreement, the Underwriter shall have received from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PWC”) a letter, dated the date of this Agreement and in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriter, containing statements and information of the type ordinarily included in accountants’ “comfort letters” to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information of the Company contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses (other than any electronic road show) and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements to any of the foregoing.

(f)            Bring-down Comfort Letter.  At the Closing Date, the Underwriter shall have received from PWC a letter, dated as of Closing Date and in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriter, to the effect that they reaffirm the statements made in the letter furnished pursuant to subsection (e) of this Section, except that the specified date referred to shall be a date not more than three business days prior to Closing Date.

(g)           Approval of Listing.  At the Closing Date, the Shares and the Warrant Shares to be purchased by the Underwriter from the Company at such time shall have been approved for listing on the NYSE MKT and conditionally approved for listing on the TSX.

(h)           Lock-up Agreements.  Prior to the date of this Agreement, the Underwriter shall have received an agreement substantially in the form of Exhibit C hereto signed by each of the persons listed in Exhibit B hereto.

(i)            Secretary’s Certificate.  At the Closing Date, the Underwriter shall have received a certificate, signed on behalf of the Company by the Secretary of the Company, dated as of the Closing Date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriter.

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(j)            Additional Documents.  At the Closing Date, counsel for the Underwriter shall have been furnished with such documents and opinions as they may require for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon the issuance and sale of the Securities as herein contemplated, or in order to evidence the accuracy of any of the representations or warranties, or the fulfillment of any of the conditions, contained in this Agreement, or as the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter may otherwise reasonably request; and all proceedings taken by the Company in connection with the issuance and sale of the Securities as herein contemplated and in connection with the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement shall be satisfactory in form and substance to the Underwriter.

(k)           Termination of Agreement.  If any condition specified in this Section 5 shall not have been fulfilled when and as required to be fulfilled, this Agreement may be terminated by the Underwriter by notice to the Company at any time on or prior to Closing Date and such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except as provided in Section 4 hereof and except that, in the case of any such termination of this Agreement, Sections 6 (Indemnification), 7 (Contribution), 11 (Notices), 12 (Parties), 13 (Governing Law and Time), 14 (Effect of Headings), 15 (Definitions), 17 (Absence of Fiduciary Relationship), 18 (Research Analyst Independence), 19 (Trial By Jury), and 20 (Consent to Jurisdiction) hereof shall survive such termination of this Agreement and remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 6.  Indemnification.

(a)           Indemnification by the Company.  The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Underwriter, its affiliates, and its and their officers, directors, employees, partners and members and each person, if any, who controls the Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act as follows:

(i)            against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever, as incurred, arising out of any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), or the omission or alleged omission therefrom of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, or arising out of any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact included in any preliminary prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing), or any “issuer information” (as defined in Rule 433), or any “road show” (as defined in Rule 433) that does not constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or the omission or alleged omission therefrom of a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;

(ii)           against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever, as incurred, to the extent of the aggregate amount paid in settlement of any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or of any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue statement or omission, or any such alleged untrue statement or omission; provided that (subject to Section 6(d) below) any such settlement is effected with the written consent of the Company; and

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(iii)          against any and all expense whatsoever, as incurred (including the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel) in investigating, preparing for or defending against any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue statement or omission, or any such alleged untrue statement or omission, to the extent that any such expense is not paid under (i) or (ii) above,

provided, however, that this indemnity agreement shall not apply to any loss, liability, claim, damage or expense to the extent arising out of any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter expressly for use in the Registration Statement (or any amendments thereto), or in any preliminary prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or in any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing), or any “road show” (as defined in Rule 433) that does not constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by the Underwriter as aforesaid consists of the information described as such in Section 6(b) hereof.

(b)           Indemnification by the Underwriter.  The Underwriter agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its directors, each of its officers who signed the Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense described in the indemnity contained in subsection (a)  of this Section 6, as incurred, but only with respect to untrue statements or omissions, or alleged untrue statements or omissions, made in the Registration Statement (or any amendments thereto), or in any preliminary prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing), or any “road show” (as defined in Rule 433 that does not constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter expressly for use therein.  The Company hereby acknowledges and agrees that the information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter expressly for use in the Registration Statement (or any amendments thereto), or in any preliminary prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing), or any “road show” (as defined in Rule 433) that does not constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus), consists exclusively of the following information appearing under the caption “Underwriting” in the Pre-Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus: the eighth paragraph under such caption (but only insofar as such information concerns the Underwriter).

(c)           Actions Against Parties; Notification.  Each indemnified party shall give notice as promptly as reasonably practicable to each indemnifying party of any action commenced against it in respect of which indemnity may be sought hereunder, but failure to so notify an indemnifying party shall not relieve such indemnifying party from any liability hereunder, unless and to the extent that the indemnifying party has been materially prejudiced thereby. Counsel to the indemnified parties shall be selected as follows: counsel to the Underwriter and the other indemnified parties referred to in Section 6(a) above shall be selected by ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo, and counsel to the Company, its directors, each of its officers who signed the Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933

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Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act shall be selected by the Company.  An indemnifying party may participate at its own expense in the defense of any such action; provided, however, that counsel to the indemnifying party shall not (except with the consent of the indemnified party) also be counsel to the indemnified party.  In no event shall the indemnifying party be liable for the fees and expenses of more than one counsel (in addition to any local counsel) separate from their own counsel for the Underwriter and the other indemnified parties referred to in Section 6(a) above and the fees and expenses of more than one counsel (in addition to any local counsel) separate from their own counsel for the Company, its directors, each of its officers who signed the Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act, in each case in connection with any one action or separate but similar or related actions in the same jurisdiction arising out of the same general allegations or circumstances.  No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified parties, settle or compromise or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever in respect of which indemnification or contribution could be sought under this Section 6 or Section 7 hereof (whether or not the indemnified parties are actual or potential parties thereto), unless such settlement, compromise or consent (i) includes an unconditional release of each indemnified party from all liability arising out of such litigation, investigation, proceeding or claim and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any indemnified party.

(d)           Settlement Without Consent if Failure to Reimburse.  If at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel as contemplated by this Section 6, such indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of the nature contemplated by Section 6(a)(ii) effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 60 days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request, (ii) such indemnifying party shall have received notice of the terms of such settlement at least 30 days prior to such settlement being entered into, and (iii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed such indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement.

SECTION 7.  Contribution.  If the indemnification provided for in Section 6 hereof is for any reason unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party in respect of any losses, liabilities, claims, damages or expenses referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the aggregate amount of such losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses incurred by such indemnified party, as incurred, (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriter on the other hand from the offering of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and of the Underwriter on the other hand in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, liabilities, claims, damages or expenses, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations.

The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriter on the other hand in connection with the offering of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement shall

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be deemed to be in the same respective proportions as the total net proceeds from the offering of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement (before deducting expenses) received by the Company and the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriter, in each case as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus, bear to the aggregate initial public offering price of the Securities as set forth on such cover.

The relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Underwriter on the other hand shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any such untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company on the one hand or by the Underwriter on the other hand and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission.

The Company and the Underwriter agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 7 were determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this Section 7.  The aggregate amount of losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses incurred by an indemnified party and referred to above in this Section 7 shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in investigating, preparing for or defending against any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 7, no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Securities underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages which such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of any such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission.

No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.

For purposes of this Section 7, each affiliate of the Underwriter, each officer, director, employee, partner and member of the Underwriter or any such affiliate, and each person, if any, who controls the Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act shall have the same rights to contribution as the Underwriter, and each director of the Company, each officer of the Company who signed the Registration Statement, and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act shall have the same rights to contribution as the Company.

SECTION 8.  Representations, Warranties and Agreements to Survive Delivery.  All representations, warranties and agreements contained in this Agreement or in certificates signed by any officer of the Company or any of its subsidiaries (whether signed on behalf of such officer, the Company or such subsidiary) and delivered to the Underwriter or counsel to the Underwriter, shall remain operative and in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation

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made by or on behalf of the Underwriter, any officer, director, employee, partner, member or agent of the Underwriter or any person controlling the Underwriter, or by or on behalf of the Company, any officer, director or employee of the Company or any person controlling the Company, and shall survive delivery of and payment for the Securities.

SECTION 9.  Termination of Agreement.

(a)           Termination; General.  The Underwriter may terminate this Agreement, by notice to the Company at any time on or prior to the Closing Date (i) if there has been, at any time on or after the date of this Agreement or since the respective dates as of which information is given in the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (in each case exclusive of any amendments or supplements thereto subsequent to the date of this Agreement), any material adverse change or any development that could reasonably expected to result in a material adverse change, in the condition (financial or other), results of operations, business, properties, management or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, or (ii) if there has occurred any material adverse change in the financial markets in the United States or the international financial markets, any declaration of a national emergency or war by the United States, any outbreak of hostilities or escalation thereof or other calamity or crisis or any change or development involving a prospective change in national or international political, financial or economic conditions (including, without limitation, as a result of terrorist activities), in each case the effect of which is such as to make it, in the judgment of the Underwriter, impracticable or inadvisable to market the Securities or to enforce contracts for the sale of the Securities, or (iii) if (A) trading in any securities of the Company has been suspended or materially limited by the Commission, the NYSE MKT or the TSX, or (B) trading generally on the NYSE, the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the Nasdaq Global Market, the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange or the Chicago Board of Trade has been suspended or limited, or minimum or maximum prices for trading have been fixed, or maximum ranges for prices have been required, by any of said exchanges or by order of the Commission, FINRA or any other governmental authority, or (C) a material disruption has occurred in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States or in Europe, or (iv) if a banking moratorium has been declared by either Federal or New York authorities.

(b)           Liabilities.  If this Agreement is terminated pursuant to this Section 9, such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except as provided in Section 4 hereof and except that Sections 6 (Indemnification), 7 (Contribution), 11 (Notices), 12 (Parties), 13 (Governing Law and Time), 14 (Effect of Headings), 15 (Definitions), 17 (Absence of Fiduciary Relationship), 18 (Research Analyst Independence), 19 (Trial By Jury), and 20 (Consent to Jurisdiction) hereof shall survive such termination and remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 10.  [Intentionally Omitted]

SECTION 11.  Notices.  All notices and other communications hereunder shall be in writing, shall be effective only upon receipt and shall be mailed, delivered by hand or overnight courier, or transmitted by fax (with the receipt of such fax to be confirmed by telephone).  Notices to the Underwriter shall be directed to ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo Securities, LLC, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇,

▇▇

▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇, Attention of Equity Syndicate, fax no. ▇▇▇-▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇ (with such fax to be confirmed by telephone to ▇▇▇-▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇); notices to the Company shall be directed to it at ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, Attention of ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇, Chief Financial Officer, fax no. ▇▇▇-▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇ (with such fax to be confirmed by telephone to ▇▇▇-▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇)).

SECTION 12.  Parties.  This Agreement shall each inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the Underwriter, the Company and their respective successors.  Nothing expressed or mentioned in this Agreement is intended or shall be construed to give any person, firm or corporation, other than the Underwriter, the Company and their respective successors and the controlling persons and other indemnified parties referred to in Sections 6 and 7 and their successors, heirs and legal representatives, any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of this Agreement or any provision herein contained.  This Agreement and all conditions and provisions hereof are intended to be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the Underwriter, the Company and their respective successors, and said controlling persons and other indemnified parties and their successors, heirs and legal representatives, and for the benefit of no other person or entity.  No purchaser of Securities from the Underwriter shall be deemed to be a successor by reason merely of such purchase.

SECTION 13.  GOVERNING LAW AND TIME.  THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.  EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY SET FORTH HEREIN, SPECIFIED TIMES OF DAY REFER TO NEW YORK CITY TIME.

SECTION 14.  Effect of Headings.  The Section and Exhibit headings herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof.

SECTION 15.  Definitions.  As used in this Agreement, the following terms have the respective meanings set forth below:

“Applicable Time” means 8:30pm (New York City time) on September 13, 2012 or such other time as agreed by the Company and the Underwriter.

“Commission” means the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Company Documents” means (i) all Subject Instruments and (ii) all other contracts, indentures, mortgages, deeds of trust, loan or credit agreements, bonds, notes, debentures, evidences of indebtedness, swap agreements, hedging agreements, leases or other instruments or agreements to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject that, solely in the case of this clause (ii), are material with respect to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole.

“DTC” means The Depository Trust Company.

“▇▇▇▇▇” means the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System.

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“ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder.

“Existing Warrants” means any warrants to purchase Common Stock outstanding on the date of this Agreement.

“FCPA” means the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder.

“FINRA” means the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. or the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., or both, as the context shall require.

“GAAP” means generally accepted accounting principles.

“Initial Registration Statement” means the Company’s registration statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-177117), as amended (if applicable), including the documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 under the 1933 Act and the Rule 430B Information; provided that any Rule 430B Information shall be deemed to be part of the Initial Registration Statement only from and after the time such information is deemed, pursuant to Rule 430B, to be part of the Initial Registration Statement.

“Issuer Free Writing Prospectus” means any “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, relating to the offering of the Securities that (i) is required to be filed with the Commission by the Company, (ii) is a “road show” that is a “written communication” within the meaning of Rule 433(d)(8)(i), whether or not required to be filed with the Commission, or (iii) is exempt from filing pursuant to Rule 433(d)(5)(i) because it contains a description of the Securities or of the offering that does not reflect the final terms, and all free writing prospectuses that are listed in Exhibits G hereto, in each case in the form filed or required to be filed with the Commission or, if not required to be filed, in the form retained in the Company’s records pursuant to Rule 433(g).

“Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectus” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is intended for general distribution to prospective investors, as evidenced by its being specified in Exhibit G hereto.

“Issuer Limited Use Free Writing Prospectus” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is not an Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectus.

“Lien” means any security interest, mortgage, pledge, lien, encumbrance, claim or equity.

“Lock-Up Period” means the period beginning on and including the date of this Agreement through and including the date that is the ninetieth (90th) day after the date of this Agreement, as the same may be extended as provided herein.

“OFAC” means the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department.

“Organizational Documents” means (a) in the case of a corporation, its charter and by-laws; (b) in the case of a limited or general partnership, its partnership certificate, certificate

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of formation or similar organizational document and its partnership agreement; (c) in the case of a limited liability company, its articles of organization, certificate of formation or similar organizational documents and its operating agreement, limited liability company agreement, membership agreement or other similar agreement; (d) in the case of a trust, its certificate of trust, certificate of formation or similar organizational document and its trust agreement or other similar agreement; and (e) in the case of any other entity, the organizational and governing documents of such entity.

“PCAOB” means the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).

“Preferred Stock” means the Company’s preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share.

“Registration Statement”  means the Initial Registration Statement; provided that, if a Rule 462(b) Registration Statement is filed with the Commission, then the term “Registration Statement” shall include such Rule 462(b) Registration Statement from and after the time of such filing, mutatis mutandis.

“Regulation S-T” means Regulation S-T of the Commission.

“Repayment Event” means any event or condition which, either immediately or with notice or passage of time or both, (i) gives the holder of any bond, note, debenture or other evidence of indebtedness (or any person acting on such holder’s behalf) the right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a portion of such indebtedness by the Company or any subsidiary of the Company, or (ii) gives any counterparty (or any person acting on such counterparty’s behalf) under any swap agreement, hedging agreement or similar agreement or instrument to which the Company or any subsidiary of the Company is a party the right to liquidate or accelerate the payment obligations, or designate an early termination date under such agreement or instrument, as the case may be.

“Rule 163,” “Rule 164,” “Rule 172,” “Rule 173,” “Rule 401,” “Rule 405,” “Rule 424(b)” “Rule 430A,” “Rule 430C,” “Rule 433” and “Rule 462(b)” refer to such rules under the 1933 Act.

“Rule 430B Information” means the information included in any preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5) or (b)(7) that was omitted from the Initial Registration Statement at the time the Initial Registration Statement first became effective but is deemed to be part of and included in the Initial Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 430B.

“Rule 462(b) Registration Statement” means a registration statement filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 462(b) for the purpose of registering any of the Securities under the 1933 Act, including the documents and other information incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein and the Rule 430B Information.

“▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇ Act” means the ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇ Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or implementing the provisions thereof.

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“Subject Instruments” means the Existing Warrants and all other instruments, agreements and documents filed or incorporated by reference as exhibits to the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K of the Commission; provided that if any instrument, agreement or other document filed or incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Registration Statement as aforesaid has been redacted or if any portion thereof has been deleted or is otherwise not included as part of such exhibit (whether pursuant to a request for confidential treatment or otherwise), the term “Subject Instruments” shall nonetheless mean such instrument, agreement or other document, as the case may be, in its entirety, including any portions thereof which shall have been so redacted, deleted or otherwise not filed.

“Termination Event” means any event or condition which gives any person the right, either immediately or with notice or passage of time or both, to terminate or limit (in whole or in part) any Company Documents or any rights of the Company or any of its subsidiaries thereunder, including, without limitation, upon the occurrence of a change of control of the Company or other similar events.

“1933 Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

“1933 Act Regulations” means the rules and regulations of the Commission under the 1933 Act.

“1934 Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

“1934 Act Regulations” means the rules and regulations of the Commission under the 1934 Act.

“1940 Act” means the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

All references in this Agreement to the Registration Statement, the Initial Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing shall be deemed to include the version thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to ▇▇▇▇▇ and all versions thereof delivered (physically or electronically) to the Underwriter.

All references in this Agreement to financial statements and schedules and other information which is “contained,” “included” or “stated” in the Registration Statement, Initial Registration Statement any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus (and all other references of like import) shall be deemed to mean and include all such financial statements and schedules and other information which is incorporated by reference in or otherwise deemed by 1933 Act Regulations to be a part of or included in the Registration Statement, the Initial Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be; and all references in this Agreement to amendments or supplements to the Initial Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to mean and include the filing of any document under the 1934 Act which is incorporated by reference in or otherwise deemed by 1933 Act Regulations to be a part of or included in the Registration Statement, the Initial Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, such preliminary prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be.

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SECTION 16.  Permitted Free Writing Prospectuses.  The Company represents, warrants and agrees that it has not made and, unless it obtains the prior written consent of the Underwriter, it will not make, any offer relating to the Securities that constitutes or would constitute an “issuer free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 433) or that otherwise constitutes or would constitute a “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405) or portion thereof required to be filed with the Commission or required to be retained by the Company pursuant to Rule 433; provided that the prior written consent of the Underwriter shall be deemed to have been given in respect of the Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectuses, if any, listed on Exhibit G hereto and, to any electronic road show in the form previously provided by the Company to and approved by the Underwriter.  Any such free writing prospectus consented to or deemed to have been consented to as aforesaid is hereinafter referred to as a “Permitted Free Writing Prospectus.”  The Company represents, warrants and agrees that it has treated and will treat each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, and has complied and will comply with the requirements of Rule 433 applicable to any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including timely filing with the Commission where required, legending and record keeping. For the purposes of clarity, the parties hereto agree that all free writing prospectuses, if any, listed in Exhibit G hereto are Permitted Free Writing Prospectuses.

SECTION 17.  Absence of Fiduciary Relationship.  The Company acknowledges and agrees that:

(a)           the Underwriter is acting solely as an underwriter in connection with the sale of the Securities and no fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship between the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriter, on the other hand, has been created in respect of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, irrespective of whether or not the Underwriter has advised or is advising the Company on other matters;

(b)           the public offering price of the Securities and the price to be paid by the Underwriter for the Securities set forth in this Agreement were established by the Company following discussions and arms-length negotiations with the Underwriter;

(c)           it is capable of evaluating and understanding, and understands and accepts, the terms, risks and conditions of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement;

(d)           it is aware that the Underwriter and its affiliates are engaged in a broad range of transactions which may involve interests that differ from those of the Company and that the Underwriter has no obligation to disclose such interests and transactions to the Company by virtue of any fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship or otherwise; and

(e)           it waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims it may have against the Underwriter for breach of fiduciary duty or alleged breach of fiduciary duty and agrees that the Underwriter shall have no liability (whether direct or indirect, in contract, tort or otherwise) to it in respect of such a fiduciary duty claim or to any person asserting a fiduciary duty claim on its behalf or in right of it or the Company or any stockholders, employees or creditors of the Company.

36

SECTION 18.  Research Analyst Independence.  The Company acknowledges that the Underwriter’s research analysts and research departments are required to be independent from its investment banking divisions and are subject to certain regulations and internal policies, and that the Underwriter’s research analysts and research departments may hold views and make statements or investment recommendations and/or publish research reports with respect to the Company and/or the offering that differ from the views of their respective investment banking divisions.  The Company hereby waives and releases, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any claims that the Company may have against the Underwriter with respect to any conflict of interest that may arise from the fact that the views expressed by their respective research analysts and research departments may be different from or inconsistent with the views or advice communicated to the Company by the Underwriter’s respective investment banking divisions.  The Company acknowledges that the Underwriter is a full service securities firm and as such from time to time, subject to applicable securities laws, may effect transactions for its own account or the account of its customers and hold long or short positions in debt or equity securities of the Company and other entities that may be the subject of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

SECTION 19.  Trial By Jury.  The Company (on its own behalf and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, on behalf of its stockholders and affiliates) and the Underwriter hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.

SECTION 20.  Consent to Jurisdiction.  The Company hereby submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of any U.S. federal or state court located in the Borough of Manhattan, the City and County of New York in any action, suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to or based upon this Agreement or any of the transactions contemplated hereby, and irrevocably and unconditionally waive any objection to the laying of venue of any such action, suit or proceeding in any such court and agree not to plead or claim in any such court that any such action, suit or proceeding has been brought in an inconvenient forum.

[Signature Page Follows]

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If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding of our agreement, please sign and return to the Company a counterpart hereof, whereupon this instrument, along with all counterparts, will become a binding agreement among the Underwriter and the Company in accordance with its terms.

[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]

EXHIBIT A

SUBSIDIARIES OF THE COMPANY

(1) Material Subsidiaries

* Applicable only if the subsidiary in question is a limited or general partnership or limited liability company.

A-1

EXHIBIT B

LIST OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO LOCK-UP

B-1

EXHIBIT C

FORM OF LOCK-UP AGREEMENT

Golden Minerals Company

Public Offering of Common Stock

Dated as of September [     ], 2012

▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo Securities, LLC

▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇
▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇

Ladies and Gentlemen:

This agreement is being delivered to you in connection with the proposed Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) among Golden Minerals Company, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”) and ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo Securities, LLC (“▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo” or the “Underwriter”), relating to a proposed underwritten public offering of common stock (the “Common Stock”) of the Company.

In order to induce you to enter into the Underwriting Agreement, and in light of the benefits that the offering of the Common Stock will confer upon the undersigned in its capacity as a securityholder and/or an officer or director of the Company, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the undersigned agrees with the Underwriter that, during the period beginning on and including the date of the Underwriting Agreement through and including the date that is the 90th day after the date of the Underwriting Agreement (such period, as the same may be extended as provided below, the “Lock-Up Period”), the undersigned will not, without the prior written consent of ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo, directly or indirectly:

(i) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend or otherwise transfer or dispose of any shares of the Company’s Common Stock or preferred stock or other capital stock (collectively, “capital stock”) or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or other capital stock, whether now owned or hereafter acquired by the undersigned or with respect to which the undersigned has or hereafter acquires the power of disposition, or

(ii) enter into any swap or other agreement, arrangement, hedge or transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, any of the economic consequence of ownership of any Common Stock or other capital stock or any securities

C-1

convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for any Common Stock or other capital stock,

whether any transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock, other capital stock, other securities, in cash or otherwise, or publicly announce any intention to do any of the foregoing. Moreover, if:

(1)           during the last 17 days of the Lock-Up Period the Company issues an earnings release or material news or a material event relating to the Company occurs, or

(2)           prior to the expiration of the Lock-Up Period, the Company announces that it will release earnings results or becomes aware that material news or a material event relating to the Company will occur during the 16-day period beginning on the last day of the Lock-Up Period,

the Lock-Up Period shall be extended and the restrictions imposed by this agreement shall continue to apply until the expiration of the 18-day period beginning on the date of issuance of the earnings release or the occurrence of the material news or material event, as the case may be, unless ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo waives, in writing, such extension.

Notwithstanding the provisions set forth in the immediately preceding paragraph, the undersigned may, without the prior written consent of ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo, transfer any Common Stock or other capital stock or any securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for Common Stock or other capital stock in the following circumstances:

(1) if the undersigned is a natural person, (a) as a bona fide gift or gifts, (b) following the death of the undersigned by will, by intestate succession or pursuant to a so-called “living trust” or other revocable trust established to provide for the disposition of property on the undersigned’s death, (c) to a spouse, former spouse, child or other dependent pursuant to a domestic relations or similar order of a court of competent jurisdiction,

(2) if the undersigned is a partnership or a limited liability company, to a partner or member, as the case may be, of such partnership or limited liability company if, in any such case, such transfer is not for value,

(3) the transfer to the Company of shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into Common Stock upon a vesting event of the Company’s securities or upon the exercise of options or warrants to purchase the Company’s capital stock, in each case on a “cashless” or “net exercise” basis or to cover tax withholding obligations of the undersigned in connection with such vesting or exercise, provided that any related filing under Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”) reporting a disposition of shares of Common Stock made in connection with such vesting or exercise shall contain a description of the transaction and indicate that the disposition was made as part of such vesting or exercise or to cover tax withholding obligations in connection therewith, and

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(4) the establishment of any contract, instruction or plan that satisfies all of the requirements of Rule 10b5-1(c)(1)(i)(B) under the 1934 Act, provided that such plan does not provide for the transfer of Common Stock during the Lock-Up Period (as the same may be extended as described above) and no public announcement or filing under the Exchange Act regarding the establishment of such plan shall be required of or voluntarily made by or on behalf of the undersigned or the Company.

provided, however, that in the case of any transfer described in clause (1) or (2) above, it shall be a condition to the transfer that (A) the transferee executes and delivers to ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo, not later than one business day prior to such transfer, a written agreement, in substantially the form of this agreement (it being understood that any references to “immediate family” in the agreement executed by such transferee shall expressly refer only to the immediate family of the undersigned and not to the immediate family of the transferee) and otherwise satisfactory in form and substance to ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo, (B) in the case of a transfer pursuant to clause (1) above, if the undersigned is required to file a report under Section 16(a) of the 1934 Act, reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock or other capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or other capital stock by the undersigned during the Lock-Up Period (as the same may be extended as described above), the undersigned shall include a statement in such report to the effect that such transfer is not a transfer for value and that such transfer is being made as a gift, by will or intestate succession or pursuant to a so-called “living trust” or other revocable trust established to provide for the disposition of property on the undersigned’s death, as the case may be, (C) in the case of a transfer pursuant to clause (2) above, no filing under Section 16(a) of the 1934 Act reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock or other capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or other capital stock shall be required to be made during the Lock-Up Period (as the same may be extended as described above) and (D) in the case of a transfer pursuant to clause (1) or (2) above, no voluntary filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other public report, filing or announcement shall be made in respect of such transfer during this Lock-Up Period (as the same may be extended as described above).  For purposes of this paragraph, “immediate family” shall mean any relationship by blood, marriage or adoption not more remote than the first cousin.

In addition, notwithstanding the lock-up restrictions described herein, the undersigned may at any time after the date hereof exercise any options or warrants to purchase shares of Common Stock or other capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or other capital stock (including by cashless exercise to the extent permitted by the instruments representing such options or warrants so long as such cashless exercise does not involve the sale of any shares of Common Stock, other capital stock, options, warrants or other securities and is effected solely by the surrender of outstanding options or warrants to the Company and the Company’s cancellation of all or a portion thereof to pay the exercise price) but only if no filing, public report or announcement of the nature described in clause (C) or clause (D) of the immediately preceding paragraph is required or made during the Lock-Up Period (as the same may be extended as described above) in connection with such exercise, provided, however that in any such case the shares of Common Stock or other capital stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or other capital stock issued upon exercise shall be and remain subject to the provisions of this agreement.

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Prior to engaging in any transaction or taking any other action that is subject to the restrictions imposed by this agreement at any time during the period from and including the date of this agreement through and including the 34th day following the last day of the Lock-Up Period (prior to giving effect to any extension of the Lock-Up Period as provided above), the undersigned will give notice thereof to the Company and will not consummate such transaction or take any such action unless it has received written confirmation from the Company that the Lock-Up Period (as the same may have been extended as provided above) has expired.

The undersigned further agrees that (i) it will not, during the Lock-Up Period (as the same may be extended as described above), make any demand for or exercise any right with respect to the registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”), of any shares of Common Stock or other capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or other capital stock, and (ii) the Company may, with respect to any Common Stock or other capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or other capital stock owned or held (of record or beneficially) by the undersigned, cause the transfer agent or other registrar to enter stop transfer instructions and implement stop transfer procedures with respect to such securities during the Lock-Up Period (as the same may be extended as described above).

The undersigned hereby waives any and all notice requirements and rights with respect to the registration of any securities pursuant to any agreement, instrument, understanding or otherwise, including any registration rights agreement or similar agreement, to which the undersigned is a party or under which the undersigned is entitled to any right or benefit and any tag-along rights, co-sale rights or other rights to have any securities (debt or equity) included in the offering contemplated by this agreement or sold in connection with the sale of Securities pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement, provided that such waiver shall apply only to the public offering of Common Stock pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement and each registration statement filed under the 1933 Act in connection therewith.

The undersigned hereby represents and warrants that the undersigned has full power and authority to enter into this agreement and that this agreement has been duly authorized (if applicable), executed and delivered by the undersigned and is a valid and binding agreement of the undersigned.  This agreement and all authority herein conferred are irrevocable and shall survive the death or incapacity of the undersigned (if a natural person) and shall be binding upon the heirs, personal representatives, successors and assigns of the undersigned.

It is understood that, if (i) the Company notifies ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo in writing that it does not intend to proceed with the Offering, (ii) if the Underwriting Agreement is not executed by October 31, 2012 or (iii) if the Underwriting Agreement (other than the provisions thereof which survive termination) shall, pursuant to its terms, terminate or be terminated for any reason prior to payment for and delivery of the shares of Common Stock and other securities (if any) to be sold thereunder, this agreement shall immediately be terminated and the undersigned shall automatically be released from all of his, her or its obligations under this agreement.

C-4

The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that whether or not any public offering of Common Stock actually occurs depends on a number of factors, including market conditions.

THE AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

[Signature Page Immediately Follows]

C-5

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed and delivered this agreement as of the date first set forth above.

C-6

EXHIBIT D

FORM OF OPINION OF COMPANY COUNSEL

D-1

EXHIBIT E

FORM OF FOREIGN COUNSEL OPINIONS

Mexican Counsel

E-1

Argentinian Counsel

E-2

EXHIBIT F

PRICE-RELATED INFORMATION

Number of shares of Common Stock:               5,497,504

Number of shares underlying Warrants:          2,748,752

Public offering price: $5.75 per unit

Net proceeds, before expenses, to the Company: $5.4625 per unit

Settlement date: September 19, 2012

F-1

EXHIBIT G

ISSUER GENERAL USE FREE WRITING PROSPECTUSES

None.

G-1