BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Consolidation

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of our wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries, including the following operations as of September 30, 2016:



Name	Location	Ownership Interest	Operation	Status of Operations
Northshore	Minnesota	100.0%	Iron Ore	Active
United Taconite	Minnesota	100.0%	Iron Ore	Active
Tilden	Michigan	85.0%	Iron Ore	Active
Empire	Michigan	79.0%	Iron Ore	Idle
Koolyanobbing	Western Australia	100.0%	Iron Ore	Active

Intercompany transactions and balances are eliminated upon consolidation.

Equity Method Investments

Our 23 percent ownership interest in Hibbing is recorded as an equity method investment. As of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, our investment in Hibbing was $1.9 million and $2.4 million, respectively, classified as Other liabilities in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position.

Foreign Currency

Our financial statements are prepared with the U.S. dollar as the reporting currency. The functional currency of our Australian subsidiaries is the Australian dollar. The functional currency of all other international subsidiaries is the U.S. dollar. The financial statements of international subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at each balance sheet date for assets and liabilities and a weighted average exchange rate for each period for revenues, expenses, gains and losses. Where the local currency is the functional currency, translation adjustments are recorded as Accumulated other comprehensive loss. Income taxes generally are not provided for foreign currency translation adjustments. To the extent that monetary assets and liabilities, inclusive of intercompany notes, are recorded in a currency other than the functional currency, these amounts are remeasured each reporting period, with the resulting gain or loss being recorded in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations. Transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement of short-term intercompany loans are included in Miscellaneous - net in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, we incurred a net loss of $0.3 million and $1.2 million, respectively, from the impact of transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement. Of these amounts, for the three months ended September 30, 2016, losses of $1.1 million and gains of $0.6 million and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, gains of $0.3 million and losses of $2.0 million resulted from remeasurement of cash and cash equivalents and remeasurement of certain obligations, respectively.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, net gains of $2.4 million and $15.2 million, respectively, related to the impact of transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement. Of these amounts, for the three months ended September 30, 2015, gains of $0.1 million and $1.3 million, respectively, resulted from remeasurement of short-term intercompany loans and cash and cash equivalents. Additionally, of these amounts for the nine months ended September 30, 2015, gains of $11.1 million and $2.0 million resulted from remeasurement of short-term intercompany loans and cash and cash equivalents, respectively.

Significant Accounting Policies

A detailed description of our significant accounting policies can be found in the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. There have been no material changes in our significant accounting policies and estimates from those disclosed therein.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Issued and Not Effective

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases. The new standard requires recognition of lease assets and lease liabilities for leases previously classified as operating leases. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. We are currently reviewing the guidance and assessing the potential impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, Stock Compensation - Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. The new standard is intended to simplify several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment award transactions. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and early adoption is permitted. We are currently reviewing the guidance and assessing the potential impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Issued and Adopted

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments. The new standard addresses eight specific changes to how cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. The guidance is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and early adoption is permitted. We have adopted the guidance for the period ended September 30, 2016 and have applied this amended accounting guidance to the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Cash Flows for all periods presented. The adoption of ASU 2016-15 did not have an impact on prior results reported in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Cash Flows.

- Definition

Disclosure of accounting policy for the equity method of accounting for investments in common stock or other interests including unconsolidated subsidiaries, corporate joint ventures, noncontrolling interests in real estate ventures, limited partnerships, and limited liability companies. The accounting policy may include information such as: (1) initially recording an investment in the stock of an investee at cost; (2) adjusting the carrying amount of the investment to recognize the investor's share of the earnings or losses of the investee after the date of acquisition; and (3) adjustments to reflect the investor's share of changes in the investee's capital (dividends). This disclosure may also include a detailed description of the policy for determining the amount of equity method losses recognized after an investment has been reduced to zero as a result of previous losses, reasons for not using the equity method when the investor company owns 20 percent or more of the voting stock of the investee's company (including identification of the significant investee), reasons for using the equity method when the ownership percentage is less than 20 percent, and discussion of recognition of equity method losses when an investor's total investment in an investee includes, in addition to an investment in common stock, other investments such as preferred stock and loans to the investee. An entity also may describe how such investments are assessed for impairment.

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