Basis of Presentation and Organization

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation and Organization

1. Basis of Presentation and Organization

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for future periods.

You should refer to the information contained in the footnotes included in Natural Resource Partners L.P.’s 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K in connection with the reading of these unaudited interim consolidated financial statements.

Natural Resource Partners L.P. (the “Partnership”) engages principally in the business of owning, managing and leasing a diversified portfolio of mineral properties in the United States, including interests in coal, an equity investment in trona and soda ash, oil and gas, construction aggregates, frac sand and other natural resources. The Partnership’s coal reserves are located in the three major U.S. coal-producing regions: Appalachia, the Illinois Basin and the Western United States, as well as lignite reserves in the Gulf Coast region. The Partnership does not operate any mines, but leases its reserves to experienced mine operators under long-term leases that grant the operators the right to mine and sell its reserves in exchange for royalty payments. The Partnership also owns and manages infrastructure assets that generate additional revenues, primarily in the Illinois Basin.

The Partnership owns various interests in oil and gas properties that are located in the Williston Basin, the Appalachian Basin, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The Partnership’s interests in the Appalachian Basin, Louisiana and Oklahoma are minerals and royalty interests, while in the Williston Basin the Partnership owns non-operated working interests. The Partnership owns aggregate reserves located in a number of states across the country, some of which are leased to third party operators who mine and sell the reserves in exchange for royalty payments. In addition, the Partnership owns a 49% interest in OCI Wyoming LLC (“OCI Wyoming”), a trona ore mining operation and soda ash refinery in the Green River Basin, Wyoming. See “Note 4. Equity and Other Investments” for more information concerning this investment.

The general partner of the Partnership is NRP (GP) LP, a Delaware limited partnership, whose general partner is GP Natural Resource Partners LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.