LEASES Level 1 (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2012

Leases [Abstract]

Leases of Lessor Disclosure [Text Block]

LEASES

Our mining operations are conducted on leased or owned property. These leases generally provide us with the right to mine as long as we continue to pay a minimum monthly rental, which is applied against the per ton royalty when the property is mined. We also lease certain offices and production facilities. In addition, we lease vehicles, railcars, mining property and equipment, warehouse space, data processing equipment, and office equipment. In most cases, we expect that, in the normal course of business, leases will be renewed or replaced by other leases.

The following is a schedule by year of future minimum rental requirements under operating leases that have initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of July 31, 2012 (in thousands):

2013	$	1,812
2014	1,567
2015	1,379
2016	1,251
2017	1,041
Later years	1,395

The following schedule shows the composition of total rental expense for all operating leases, including those with terms of one month or less which were not renewed, for the fiscal years ended July 31 (in thousands):

	2012		2011		2010
Vehicles and Railcars	$	2,029	$	1,574	$	1,536
Office facilities	848		840		809
Warehouse facilities	252		288		335
Mining properties:
Minimum	123		112		113
Contingent	302		289		336
Other	141		135		167
	$	3,695	$	3,238	$	3,296

Contingent mining royalty payments are determined based on the tons of raw clay mined.