UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C.  20549

FORM 40-F

 

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None.

 

For annual reports, indicate by check mark the information filed with this Form:

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the Registrant's classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.

80,704,204 outstanding shares of the Registrant's common stock as of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interac-tive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preced-ing 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit and post such files).

EXPLANATORY COMMENT

MAG Silver Corp. (the "Company" or the "Registrant") is a British Columbia corporation and a "foreign private issuer" as defined in Rule 3b-4 promulgated under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").  Under the SEC's rules, the Company is eligible to prepare and file this annual report on Form 40-F, and to present the disclosures herein primarily in accordance with Canadian disclosure requirements, which differ in certain material respects from those which the SEC requires of United States companies.

For example, the Company has prepared its financial statements, which are included as Exhibit 99.2 to this annual report on Form 40-F, in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB"), and such statements are not in many respects directly comparable to financial statements of United States companies.

Similarly, and as discussed in greater detail below in "ESTIMATES OF RESOURCES AND RESERVES," the resource and reserve estimates included in the accompanying Annual Information Form (including the Schedules thereto), found at Exhibit 99.1 of this Form 40-F Annual Report, and management's discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 filed as Exhibit 99.2 to this Annual Report on Form 40-F, have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), which differ from the practices used to estimate resources and reserves in reports and other materials filed with the SEC by United States companies.

 

As a "foreign private issuer" the Company is exempt from certain proxy-related requirements found in Sections 14(a), 14(b), 14(c),  and 14(f) of the Exchange Act, and the insider reporting, "short swing profit" and short sale provisions found in Section 16 thereof are not applicable to the Company's common shares.

PRINCIPAL DOCUMENTS

 

The following documents have been filed by the Company with this Annual Report on Form 40-F, and are incorporated herein by reference:

 

A. Annual Information Form

 

The Company's Annual Information Form ("AIF") for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016: see Exhibit 99.1 of this Annual Report on Form 40-F.

 

B. Audited Annual Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying Management's Discussion and Analysis

 

The Company's Audited Annual Consolidated Financial Statements including the reports of the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm with respect thereto and accompanying Management's Discussion and Analysis for fiscal year ended December 31, 2016: see Exhibit 99.2 of this Annual Report on Form 40-F. The Company's Audited Annual Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with IFRS.

CAUTIONARY COMMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND ADJACENT PROPERTY DISCLOSURES

Forward Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 40-F contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements") that are based on the beliefs and estimates of management on the date as of which the statement are made, as well as assumptions made by and information then available to the Company. The Company's documents incorporated herein by reference, contain forward-looking statements concerning anticipated developments in the operations of the Company in future periods, planned exploration and development activities, the adequacy of the Company's financial resources and other events or conditions that may occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "potential," "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will," "may," "could" or "should" occur or be achieved. Information concerning the interpretation of drill results and mineral resource or reserve estimates also may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, as such information constitutes a prediction of what mineralization might be found to be present if and when a project is actually developed. Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, those described in the AIF.

 

For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Adjacent Property Disclosure

The staff of the SEC takes the position that mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, should describe only those mineral deposits that the companies themselves can economically and legally extract or produce.  The AIF filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Annual Report on Form 40-F contains information regarding adjacent properties on which we have no right to explore or mine, and is considered by management to be of material importance to the Company and its land holdings in the area.  Investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not necessarily probative of the existence, nature or extent of mineral deposits on our properties.

 

ESTIMATES OF RESOURCES AND RESERVES

 

The Company's AIF filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Annual Report on Form 40-F and management's discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 filed as Exhibit 99.2 to this Annual Report on Form 40-F have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM") —  CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended.  NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators, which establishes standards for disclosure a Canadian public company makes of scientific and technical information concerning its mineral projects, differs from the requirements of SEC Industry Guide 7 ("SEC Industry Guide 7") under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act").

For example, the terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve" and "probable mineral reserve" are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with NI 43-101 and the CIM standards.  These definitions differ from the definitions in SEC Industry Guide 7. 

In addition, the terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" are defined in and required to be disclosed by NI 43-101; however, these terms are not defined under SEC Industry Guide 7 and are normally not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. It should not be assumed that any part or all of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. "Inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category.

Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists or is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC Industry Guide 7 standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures.

 

 

Accordingly, information contained in this Annual Report and the documents incorporated by reference herein contains descriptions of mineral deposits that may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws.

 

DISCLOSURE CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

After evaluating the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and procedures as required by paragraph (b) of Exchange Act Rule 13a-15, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Company have concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 40-F, the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were effective to ensure that material information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC's rules and forms, and accumulated and communicated to the Company's management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

 

MANAGEMENT'S ANNUAL REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

 

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f).

Management recognizes that effective internal control over financial reporting may nonetheless not prevent or detect all possible misstatements or frauds. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Management has evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of the end of the Company's fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 using the framework Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).  Based on this evaluation, management concluded that, as of December 31, 2016, the Company maintained effective internal control over financial reporting.

ATTESTATION REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

The required disclosure is included under the heading "Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm" in the Registrant's Audited Annual Consolidated Financial Statements for fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, included as Exhibit 99.2 to this Annual Report on Form 40-F.

 

CHANGES IN INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

 

During the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 40-F, no changes occurred in the Company's internal control over financial reporting that were identified in connection with the evaluation required by paragraph (e) of Exchange Act Rule 13a-15 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

 

 

NOTICES PURSUANT TO REGULATION BTR

 

Not applicable.

 

AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT

 

The Company's Board of Directors has determined that each of Peter Barnes, Richard Colterjohn and Jill Leversage is an "audit committee financial expert" as that term is defined in paragraph (8) of General Instruction B of Form 40-F, and each is an "independent director" as that term is defined under the listing standards applicable to the Company contained in Section 803A of the NYSE MKT Company Guide. A description of the relevant experience of each of such director can be found in the AIF.  The SEC has indicated that the designation of a director as an audit committee financial expert does not make that director an "expert" for any purpose, impose any duties, obligations or liability on him or her that are greater than those imposed on members of the Audit Committee and Board of Directors who do not carry this designation, or affect the duties, obligations or liability of any other member of the Audit Committee or Board of Directors.

CODE OF ETHICS FOR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER,

AND OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

 

The Company has adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (the "Code") for its Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, directors and officers. The Company previously furnished the latest version of the Code with the SEC on August 21, 2015 as Exhibit 99.1 to its Form 6-K. Individuals may obtain a copy upon request, addressed to The Secretary, MAG Silver Corp., #770-800 West Pender Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C 2V6.  The Company has also posted the Code on its internet website at www.magsilver.com. Amendments to the Code were approved by the directors on June 22, 2015 and since that time there have been no further amendments to the Code.  No waivers were granted from the Code during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.

 

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

 

The aggregate fees billed by the Company's current external auditor, Deloitte LLP, in each of the last two fiscal years are as follows.

Note: The Canadian and Euro denominated invoices were converted to US$ at yearly average rates (C$ 2016: 0.7545; 2015: 0.7821)

(€ 2016: 1.10702; 2015: 1.10954) obtained from the Bank of Canada.

 

 The nature of the services provided by Deloitte LLP under each of the categories indicated in the table is described below.

Audit Fees

Audit fees are those incurred for professional services rendered by Deloitte LLP for the audit of the Company's annual consolidated financial statements and for the quarterly interim reviews of the Company's unaudited consolidated financial statements.

Audit-Related Fees

Audit-related fees are those incurred for: i) professional services rendered by Deloitte LLP relating to the short form prospectus and ii) professional fees related to the Mexican statutory audit of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Tax Fees

Tax fees are those incurred for professional services rendered by Deloitte LLP for:  tax compliance, including the review of tax returns, tax planning and advisory services relating to common forms of domestic and international taxation (i.e. income tax, capital tax, goods and services tax and value added tax); continued tax planning and advisory services on potential restructuring and spin-out projects; and, preparation of a Transfer Pricing report.

All Other Fees

There are no other fees to report under this category for professional services rendered by Deloitte LLP for the Company.

PRE-APPROVAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

 

It is within the mandate of the Company's Audit Committee to pre-approve all audit and non-audit related fees. The Audit Committee is informed routinely as to the non-audit services actually provided by the auditor pursuant to this pre-approval process.  The auditors also present the estimate for the annual audit related services to the Audit Committee for approval prior to undertaking the annual audit of the financial statements.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

 

None.

 

 

TABULAR DISCLOSURE OF CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016

Presented in US$ (unless noted otherwise)

 

	Total	Less than 1 year	1-3 Years	3-5 Years
Property Option Payments,  Exploration and Development Expenditures – Total (1)	$              -	$                       -	$                -	$               -
Office Lease	363,475	129,449	234,026	-
Total Obligations	$   363,475	$            129,449	$     234,026	$               -

 

(1)

Although the Company makes cash deposits to Minera Juanicipio as cash is called by the operator Fresnillo, plc (based on annual Minera Juanicipio budgets), they are not contractual obligations. The Company intends, however, to continue to fund its share of cash calls and avoid dilution of its ownership interest.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE

 

The Company has a separately designated standing Audit Committee established in accordance with section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act. The members of the Audit Committee are:

 

MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE

 

Not applicable.

 

UNDERTAKING

 

The Registrant undertakes to make available, in person or by telephone, representatives to respond to inquiries made by the SEC staff, and to furnish promptly, when requested to do so by the SEC staff, information relating to: the securities registered pursuant to Form 40-F; the securities in relation to which the obligation to file an annual report on Form 40-F arises; or transactions in said securities.

CONSENT TO SERVICE OF PROCESS

The Company has filed an Appointment of Agent for Service of Process and Undertaking on Form F-X with respect to the class of securities in relation to which the obligation to file this Form 40-F arises.

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Exchange Act, the Registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form 40-F and has duly caused this Annual Report on Form 40-F to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereto duly authorized.

Registrant:              MAG SILVER CORP.

By:   /s/ "George Paspalas"

Name:  George Paspalas

Title:   President and Chief Executive Officer

Dated:  March 29, 2017

 

 

 

 

23.1	Consent of Deloitte LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm