Non-operating income and expenses
Loss on other investments
Loss on other investments was $30 and $1,129 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. These amounts reflect unrealized gains (losses) from changes in fair value of our common shares held in Midas Gold Corp. (“Midas Gold Shares”) and Nusantara Resources Limited (“Nusantara Shares”) and realized losses on sales of the Midas Gold Shares. The unrealized loss on Nusantara Shares was $30 and $116 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. All Midas Gold Shares were sold prior to 2021. As such, there were no Midas Gold Share sales during the three months ended March 31, 2021. The unrealized loss on Midas Gold Shares was $998 for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The Company sold 642,000 Midas Gold Shares and received net proceeds of $300 with a realized loss of $15 during the three months ended March 31, 2020.
Financial Position, Liquidity and Capital Resources
Operating activities
Net cash used in operating activities was $2,525 and $1,743 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The increase in operating outflows generally reflects increased expenditures for exploration, property evaluation and holding costs discussed above.
Investing activities
Net cash provided by investing activities was $1,500 and $2,599 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Sources of cash from investing activities during the three months ended March 31, 2021 were $1,100 for the royalty cancellation payment received for the Los Reyes project and $400 for net disposition of short-term investments. Sources of cash from investing activities during the three months ended March 31, 2020 were net disposition of short-term investments of $2,299 and proceeds from the sale of Midas Gold Shares of $300.
Financing activities
During the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, net cash of $416 and $nil, respectively, was provided by financing activities. Cash from financing activities during the three months ended March 31, 2021 included net proceeds of $610 under the ATM (defined below), offset by payments of $194 for employee withholding tax obligations in lieu of issuing common shares of the Company (“Common Shares”).
Liquidity and capital resources
Cash and cash equivalents totaled $7,153 at March 31, 2021 compared to $7,762 at December 31, 2020. The net decline of $609 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 reflects expenditures of $2,719 offset by cash inflows of $2,110. Expenditures for recurring Mt Todd and corporate activities were largely unchanged but increased over the same period of 2020 due principally to the Mt Todd drilling program, power costs to pump approximately 1.7 gigaliters of water from the Batman pit, and a stronger Australian dollar versus the U.S. dollar. Cash inflows reflect receipt of $1,100 associated with monetizing the Los Reyes royalty interests, $610 net proceeds from equity financing, and net maturities of short-term investments totaling $400. For additional details see the preceding discussions in this section of operating activities, investing activities and financing activities.
As a secondary measure of liquidity, the Company had working capital of $5,871 and $8,281 at March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. These amounts were net of deferred option gains of $1,168 and $68, respectively, related to the Los Reyes and Awak Mas transactions. The deferred option gains will ultimately be recognized as income and not require any use of current assets. Consequently, the components of working capital affecting Vista’s liquidity and capital resources included: