Japan Gold currently holds a total of 977 prospecting rights license applications accepted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, (“METI”), of which 220 have been granted as prospecting rights licenses. Having prospecting rights applications accepted by METI reserves the land for Japan Gold and allows for active surface exploration programs such as mapping, surface sampling and geophysics. Granting of Prospecting Rights licenses by METI allows for more advanced forms of exploration, such as drilling.