Stock-Based Compensation Expense*
The Company has a stock option plan where the number of common shares of the Company (the “Common Shares”) reserved under the plan shall not exceed 10% of issued and outstanding Common Shares and the number reserved for any one individual may not exceed 5% of the issued and outstanding shares. The board of directors approved a Performance Share Unit Plan on April 15, 2014 (“the PSU Plan”), whereby a maximum of 5,000,000 Common Shares may be issuable to officers, employees and consultants of the Company and its subsidiaries similar restrictions as the stock option plan.
Exercise prices for stock options granted are determined by the closing market price on the day before the date of grant. The fair value of each option granted is estimated on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes option pricing model (the assumptions used for the model are discussed in the notes accompanying the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014).
There were no stock options or Common Shares under the PSU Plan issued during the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, and no stock options were exercised during the years ended December 31, 2015 or 2014. There were 6,950,000 stock options that expired unexercised and 1,800,000 stock options forfeited for the year ended December 31, 2015.
Stock-based compensation expense of $nil was recognized for the year ended December 31, 2015 and 2014.
* This section con