INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2014

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Table Text Block]

The provision for income tax expense (benefit) consists of the following at July 31 (in thousands):



	2014			2013			2012
Current
Federal	$	1,267		$	5,446		$	(252	)
Foreign	63			19			358
State	308			578			(165		)
Current Income Tax Total	1,638			6,043			(59		)
Deferred
Federal	1,381			(2,984		)	2,038
Foreign	(215		)	(88		)	(171		)
State	177			(58		)	455
Deferred Income Tax Total	1,343			(3,130		)	2,322
Total Income Tax Expense	$	2,981		$	2,913		$	2,263

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation [Table Text Block]

Principal reasons for variations between the statutory federal rate and the effective rates were as follows for the years ended July 31:



	2014		2013		2012
U.S. federal income tax rate	34.0	%	34.0	%	34.0	%
Depletion deductions allowed for mining	(12.2	)	(9.7	)	(16.5	)
State income tax expense, net of federal tax expense	2.8		2.9		2.3
Difference in effective tax rate of foreign subsidiaries	0.9		(0.8	)	1.2
Empowerment zone credits	(0.5	)	(0.5	)	(1.7	)
Valuation allowance increase (decrease)	3.2		(7.8	)	11.4
Other	(1.9	)	(1.5	)	(3.6	)
Effective income tax rate	26.3	%	16.6	%	27.1	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Table Text Block]

The Consolidated Balance Sheets included the following tax effects of cumulative temporary differences as of July 31 (in thousands):



	2014					2013
	Assets			Liabilities		Assets ¹			Liabilities ¹
Depreciation	$	—		$	7,332	$	—		$	6,868
Deferred compensation	3,733			—		3,375			—
Postretirement benefits	7,651			—		5,741			—
Allowance for doubtful accounts	303			—		264			—
Deferred marketing expenses	—			10		—			9
Other assets	—			84		207			—
Accrued expenses	1,289			—		3,290			—
Tax credits	3,386			—		2,692			—
Amortization	—			229		—			356
Inventories	453			—		442			—
Depletion	—			488		—			503
Stock-based compensation	248			—		199			—
Reclamation	141			—		241			—
Other assets – foreign	930			—		640			—
Valuation allowance	(3,973		)	—		(3,205		)	—
Total deferred taxes	$	14,161		$	8,143	$	13,886		$	7,736

¹ We identified an error in the amounts previously disclosed in this footnote in fiscal 2013 related to deferred taxes of our United Kingdom subsidiary. The fiscal 2013 amounts reported as Other assets - foreign and Valuation allowance were both overstated by $1,494,000 as previously reported and have been revised in the table above. The disclosure error is considered immaterial, individually and in the aggregate, to the previously reported consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended July 31, 2013.

Summary of Income Tax Contingencies [Table Text Block]

Reconciliations of the beginning and ending amount of UTBs were as follows for the years ended July 31 (in thousands):



	2014			2013		2012
Gross balance – beginning of year	$	273		$	273	$	273
Gross decreases - tax positions from prior years	(273		)	—		—
Gross balance – end of year	$	—		$	273	$	273

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of tax positions taken in the tax returns filed or to be filed for which it is more likely than not that the tax position will not be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities (i.e., uncertain tax positions) and other types of income tax contingencies, including: (1) the policy on classification of interest and penalties; (2) a tabular reconciliation of the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits at the beginning and end of the period; the total amount(s) of: (3) unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate, and (4) interest and penalties recognized in each of the income statement and balance sheet; (5) for positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts unrecognized will significantly change within 12 months of the reporting date the: (i) nature of the uncertainty, (ii) nature of the event that could occur that would cause the change, and (iii) an estimate of the range of the reasonably possible change or a statement that an estimate of the range cannot be made; and (6) a description of tax years that remain subject to examination by major tax jurisdictions.

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