Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Labor Union Contracts

The Company maintains two labor agreements in South America, consisting of a labor agreement with Associacion Obrera Minera Argentina at the Martha mine in Argentina and with Sindicato de la Empresa Minera Manquiri at the San Bartolomé mine in Bolivia. The agreement at the Martha mine is effective from June 12, 2006 to December 31, 2012. The labor agreement at the San Bartolomé mine, which became effective October 11, 2007, does not have a fixed term. As of September 30, 2012, approximately 13.0% of the Company’s worldwide labor force was covered by collective bargaining agreements.

Termination Benefits

The Company established a termination benefit program for its employees at the Rochester mine in 2005. The program provides a financial benefit in the form of severance pay to terminated employees if their employment is terminated due to curtailment of operations. The individual benefit is based on the employee’s service time and rate of pay at the time of termination. The Rochester mine resumed mining and crushing operations in late 2011, and currently employs more than 200 employees. This termination benefit program has been extended to include newly hired employees. As of September 30, 2012, the total benefit expected to be incurred under this plan is approximately $4.7 million. The liability is recognized at the discounted amount and accreted over the service period.

Changes to the Company's termination benefits are as follows (in thousands):

	Three months ended September 30,				Nine months ended September 30,
	2012		2011		2012		2011
Beginning Balance	$	3,651	$	2,733	$	3,335	$	1,105
Accruals	85		336		401		1,964
Ending Balance	$	3,736	$	3,069	$	3,736	$	3,069

The Company does not have a written severance plan for any of its foreign operations including those operations located in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Mexico. However, laws in these foreign jurisdictions require payment of certain minimum statutory termination benefits. Accordingly, in situations where minimum statutory termination benefits must be paid to the affected employees, the Company records employee severance costs in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The Company has accrued obligations for post-employment benefits in these locations of approximately $8.1 million and $7.4 million as of September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.

Kensington Production Royalty

On July 7, 1995, Coeur, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Coeur Alaska, Inc., acquired the 50% ownership interest of Echo Bay Exploration Inc., or Echo Bay, giving Coeur 100% ownership of the Kensington property. Coeur Alaska is obligated to pay Echo Bay, a subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corporation, a scaled net smelter return royalty on 1.0 million ounces of future gold production after Coeur Alaska recoups the $32.5 million purchase price and its construction and development expenditures incurred after July 7, 1995 in connection with placing the property into commercial production. The royalty ranges from 1% at gold prices of $400 per ounce to a maximum of 2.5% at gold prices above $475 per ounce, with the royalty to be capped at 1.0 million ounces of production. No royalty has been paid to date.

Rochester Production Royalty

The Company acquired the Rochester property from ASARCO, a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico SA de CV, in 1983. The Company is obligated to pay a net smelter royalty interest to ASARCO when the market price of silver equals or exceeds $23.60 per ounce up to a maximum rate of 5%. Royalty expense was $0.8 million and $0.8 million, and $2.0 million and $1.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Palmarejo Gold Production Royalty

On January 21, 2009, Coeur Mexicana entered into a gold production royalty transaction with Franco-Nevada Corporation under which Franco-Nevada purchased a royalty covering 50% of the life of mine gold to be produced from its Palmarejo silver and gold mine in Mexico. The royalty agreement provides for a minimum obligation to be paid monthly on a total of 400,000 ounces of gold, or 4,167 ounces per month over an initial eight year period.