Mineral Rights

The Partnership’s mineral rights consist of the following (in thousands):



	March 31, 2016
	(Unaudited)
	Carrying Value		Accumulated Depletion			Net Book Value
Coal, Hard Mineral Royalty and Other	$	1,269,633	$	(437,628	)	$	832,005
VantaCore	112,700		(3,475		)	109,225
Oil and Gas	136,392		(16,793		)	119,599
Total	$	1,518,725	$	(457,896	)	$	1,060,829



	December 31, 2015
	Carrying Value		Accumulated Depletion			Net Book Value
Coal, Hard Mineral Royalty and Other	$	1,278,274	$	(432,260	)	$	846,014
VantaCore	112,700		(3,082		)	109,618
Oil and Gas	155,293		(16,898		)	138,395
Total	$	1,546,267	$	(452,240	)	$	1,094,027

Depletion expense related to the Partnership’s mineral rights totaled $10.3 million and $19.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Sales of Royalty Properties

As discussed in Note 1. "Basis of Presentation," we are currently pursuing or considering a number of actions, including dispositions of assets, in order to mitigate the effects of further commodity price and market deterioration which could otherwise cause us to breach financial covenants under our debt agreements. As part of this plan, the Partnership sold the following assets during the three months ended March 31, 2016:

1)Oil and gas royalty and overriding royalty interests in several producing properties located in the Appalachian Basin for $37.5 million. The effective date of the sale was January 1, 2016, and the Partnership recorded a $20.3 million gain from this sale included in Gain on asset sales on its Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income.

2)Hard mineral reserves and related royalty rights at three aggregates operations located in Texas, Georgia and Tennessee for $10.0 million. The effective date of the sale was February 1, 2016, and the Partnership recorded a $1.6 million gain from this sale included in Gain on asset sales on its Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income.