NOTE 11: 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.


in thousands	*September 30* *2012*
Standby Letters of Credit
Risk management requirement for insurance claims		$36,805
Payment surety required by utilities		100
Contractual reclamation/restoration requirements		7,451
Financial requirement for industrial revenue bond		14,230
Total		$58,586

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. All $58,586,000 of our outstanding standby letters of credit as of September 30, 2012, is backed by our $600,000,000 bank line of credit which expires December 15, 2016.