NOTE 13: STANDBY LETTERS OF CREDIT

We provide certain third parties with irrevocable standby letters of credit in the normal course of business. We use commercial banks to issue such letters of credit to back our obligations to pay or perform when required to do so according to the requirements of an underlying agreement. The standby letters of credit listed below are cancelable only at the option of the beneficiaries who are authorized to draw drafts on the issuing bank up to the face amount of the standby letter of credit in accordance with its terms.

Our standby letters of credit as of September 30, 2011 are summarized in the table below:



	*September 30*
in thousands	*2011*

Standby Letters of Credit
Risk management requirement for insurance claims		$41,083
Payment surety required by utilities		133
Contractual reclamation/restoration requirements		8,482
Financial requirement for industrial revenue bond		14,230

Total		$63,928

Since banks consider standby letters of credit as contingent extensions of credit, we are required to pay a fee until they expire or are canceled. Substantially all of our standby letters of credit have a one-year term and are automatically renewed unless cancelled with the approval of the beneficiary. Of the total $63,928,000 outstanding standby letters of credit as of September 30, 2011, $60,896,000 is backed by our $1,500,000,000 bank credit facility which expires November 16, 2012.