Share-based payment charges were $415,186 during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $448,474 during the year ended December 31, 2022. The $33,288 decrease in share-based payment charges during the year was mainly the result of equity compensation issued or granted to certain officers and employees of the Company at a lower issue price during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The Company granted 526,984 deferred share units (“DSUs”) at an issue price of C$0.63 per DSU, 145,614 DSUs at an issue price of C$0.57 per DSU, and 240,000 incentive stock options at an issue price of C$0.63 per option during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to 451,085 DSUs at an issue price of C$0.92 per DSU and 240,000 incentive stock options at an issue price of C$0.92 per option during the year ended December 31, 2022. All DSUs granted in each of these years were fully vested upon issuance. All options vest one-third on the grant date, one-third on the first anniversary, and one-third on the second anniversary. At December 31, 2023, there was $46,265 of unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested options outstanding.
Share-based payment charges were allocated as follows:
| | | | | | |
| | Year Ended | | Year Ended |
| | December 31, | | December 31, |
Expense category: | | 2023 | | 2022 |
Consulting | | $ | 329,515 | | $ | 322,052 |
Investor relations | | | 5,711 | | | 8,428 |
Wages and benefits | | | 79,960 | | | 117,994 |
| | $ | 415,186 | | $ | 448,474 |
Professional fees were $267,056 for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $226,439 for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase of $40,617 is primarily due to increased legal fees of $54,660 partially offset by reduced audit and tax services due to timing of $12,849 and reduced XBRL costs of $1,194.
Travel costs were $45,925 for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $29,935 for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase of $15,990 is primarily due to increased travel requirements.
Excluding share-based payment charges of $5,711 and $8,428 for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, investor relations decreased to $45,809 for the year ended December 31, 2023 from $57,163 for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease of $11,355 is primarily due to reduced participation in investor relations conferences.
Excluding share-based payment charges of $79,960 and $117,994 for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, wages and benefits decreased to $741,529 for the year ended December 31, 2023 from $796,084 for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease of $54,555 is primarily due to payroll-related benefit accruals as at December 31, 2023.
Excluding share-based payments, all other operating expense categories reflected only moderate changes period over period.
Other items amounted to other income of $88,532 during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to other income of $404,346 during the year ended December 31, 2022. The Company had a foreign exchange loss of $30,754 during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to a foreign exchange gain of $348,207 during the year ended December 31, 2022 as a result of the impact of exchange rates on certain of the Company’s U.S. dollar cash balances. The average exchange rate during the year ended December 31, 2023 was C$1 to $0.7410 compared to C$1 to $0.7692 for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The Company has no revenue generating operations from which it can internally generate funds. To date, the Company’s ongoing operations have been predominantly financed through sale of its equity securities by way of public offerings, private placements and the subsequent exercise of share purchase and broker warrants issued in connection with such private placements. There are currently no warrants outstanding.
As at December 31, 2023, the Company reported cash and cash equivalents of $1,687,690 compared to $4,847,429 at December 31, 2022. The decrease of approximately $3.2 million resulted mainly from planned expenditures on operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2023.