Leases

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Leases [Abstract]

Lessee, Operating Leases [Text Block]

Leases

The Company has operating leases for mining equipment, office equipment and office space with remaining lease terms ranging from less than 1 year to approximately 8 years. Some of these leases include both lease and non-lease components which are accounted for as a single lease component as the Company has elected the practical expedient to combine these components for all leases. As most of the leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company calculated the ROU assets and lease liabilities using its’ secured incremental borrowing rate at the lease commencement date. The Company currently does not have any finance leases outstanding.

Information related to leases was as follows:

	Year Ended December 31, 2019
	(In thousands)
Operating lease information:
Operating lease cost	$	3,921
Operating cash flows from operating leases	3,842
Weighted average remaining lease term in years	5.92
Weighted average discount rate	5.5		%

Future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable leases as of December 31, 2019 were as follows:

Year	Amount
	(In thousands)
2020	$	3,616
2021	3,367
2022	3,292
2023	3,261
2024	3,152
Thereafter	8,001
Total minimum lease payments	$	24,689
Less imputed interest	(4,888		)
Total operating lease liability	$	19,801
As reflected on the balance sheet:
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities	$	2,514
Other noncurrent liabilities	17,287
Total operating lease liability	$	19,801

At December 31, 2019, the Company had a $19.2 million ROU operating lease asset recorded within “Other noncurrent assets” on the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

The Company has no obligations for future minimum payments under capital leases for equipment at December 31, 2019 and 2018.

Rental expense, including amounts related to these operating leases and other shorter-term arrangements, amounted to $12.0 million in 2019, $12.4 million in 2018 and $19.2 million in 2017.

Royalties are paid to lessors either as a fixed price per ton or as a percentage of the gross selling price of the mined coal. Royalties under the majority of the Company’s significant leases are paid on the percentage of gross selling price basis. Royalty expense, including production royalties, was $149.5 million in 2019, $166.1 million in 2018, and $167.4 million in 2017.

As of December 31, 2019, certain of the Company’s lease obligations were secured by outstanding surety bonds totaling $29.5 million.