Goodwill And Other Intangible Assets And Liabilities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Goodwill And Other Intangible Assets And Liabilities [Abstract]

Goodwill And Other Intangible Assets And Liabilities

NOTE 5 — GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess purchase price paid over the fair value of the net assets of acquired companies and is not subject to amortization. We assign goodwill arising from acquired companies to the reporting units that are expected to benefit from the synergies of the acquisition. Our reporting units are either at the operating segment level or a component one level below our operating segments that constitutes a business for which management generally reviews production and financial results of that component. Decisions are often made as to capital expenditures, investments and production plans at the component level as part of the ongoing management of the related operating segment. We have determined that our Asia Pacific Iron Ore and Ferroalloys operating segments constitute separate reporting units, that our Bloom Lake and Wabush mines within our Eastern Canadian Iron Ore operating segment constitute reporting units, that CLCC within our North American Coal operating segment constitutes a reporting unit and that our Northshore mine within our U.S. Iron Ore operating segment constitutes a reporting unit. Goodwill is allocated among and evaluated for impairment at the reporting unit level in the fourth quarter of each year or as circumstances occur that potentially indicate that the carrying amount of these assets may not be recoverable. There were no such events or changes in circumstances during 2011.

After performing our annual goodwill impairment test in the fourth quarter of 2011, we determined that $27.8 million of goodwill associated with our CLCC reporting unit was impaired as the carrying value with this reporting unit exceeded its fair value. The fair value was determined using a combination of a discounted cash flow model and valuations of comparable businesses. The impairment charge for the CLCC reporting unit was driven by our overall outlook on coal pricing in light of economic conditions, increases in our anticipated costs to bring the Lower War Eagle mine into production and increases in our anticipated sustaining capital cost for the lives of the CLCC mines that are currently operating. No impairment charges were identified in connection with our annual goodwill impairment test with respect to our other identified reporting units. The following table summarizes changes in the carrying amount of goodwill allocated by operating segment during 2011 and 2010:

	(In Millions)
	December 31, 2011															December 31, 2010
	U.S. Iron Ore		Eastern Canadian Iron Ore			North American Coal			Asia Pacific Iron Ore		Other		Total			U.S. Iron Ore		Eastern Canadian Iron Ore		North American Coal		Asia Pacific Iron Ore		Other		Total
Beginning Balance	$	2.0	$	3.1		$	27.9		$	82.6	$	80.9	$	196.5		$	2.0	$	—	$	—	$	72.6	$	—	$	74.6
Arising in business combinations		—		983.5			(0.1	)		—		—		983.4			—		3.1		27.9		—		80.9		111.9
Impairment		—		—			(27.8	)		—		—		(27.8	)		—		—		—		—		—		—
Impact of foreign currency translation		—		—			—			0.4		—		0.4			—		—		—		10.0		—		10.0
Other		—		(0.4	)		—			—		—		(0.4	)		—		—		—		—		—		—
Ending Balance	$	2.0	$	986.2		$	—		$	83.0	$	80.9	$	1,152.1		$	2.0	$	3.1	$	27.9	$	82.6	$	80.9	$	196.5

The increase in the balance of goodwill as of December 31, 2011 is due to the assignment of $983.5 million to Goodwill during 2011 based on preliminary purchase price allocation for the acquisition of Consolidated Thompson. The balance of $1,152.1 million and $196.5 million as of December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, is presented as Goodwill in the Statements of Consolidated Financial Position. Refer to NOTE 4 — ACQUISITIONS AND OTHER INVESTMENTS for additional information.

Other Intangible Assets and Liabilities

Following is a summary of intangible assets and liabilities at December 31, 2011 and 2010:

		(In Millions)
		December 31, 2011									December 31, 2010
	Classification	Gross Carrying Amount			Accumulated Amortization			Net Carrying Amount			Gross Carrying Amount			Accumulated Amortization			Net Carrying Amount
Definite lived intangible assets:
Permits	Intangible assets, net	$	134.3		$	(23.2	)	$	111.1		$	132.4		$	(16.3	)	$	116.1
Utility contracts	Intangible assets, net		54.7			(21.3	)		33.4			54.7			(10.2	)		44.5
Easements (1)	Intangible assets, net		—			—			—			11.7			(0.4	)		11.3
Leases	Intangible assets, net		5.5			(3.0	)		2.5			5.2			(2.9	)		2.3
Unpatented technology (2)	Intangible assets, net		—			—			—			4.0			(2.4	)		1.6
Total intangible assets		$	194.5		$	(47.5	)	$	147.0		$	208.0		$	(32.2	)	$	175.8
Below-market sales contracts	Below-market sales contracts - current	$	(77.0	)	$	24.3		$	(52.7	)	$	(77.0	)	$	19.9		$	(57.1	)
Below-market sales contracts	Below-market sales contracts		(252.3	)		140.5			(111.8	)		(252.3	)		87.9			(164.4	)
Total below-market sales contracts		$	(329.3	)	$	164.8		$	(164.5	)	$	(329.3	)	$	107.8		$	(221.5	)

(1) Upon the acquistion of Consolidated Thompson, this intangible asset is now eliminated through intercompany eliminations. The easement agreement is between Wabush and Consolidated Thompson.

(2) Upon recording the renewaFUEL operations as discontinued operations, this intangible asset was written down in the resulting impairment charge recorded during the third quarter of 2011.

The intangible assets are subject to periodic amortization on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives as follows:

Intangible Asset	Useful Life (years)
Permits	15 - 28
Utility contracts	5
Leases	1.5 - 4.5

Amortization expense relating to intangible assets was $17.7 million, $18.8 million and $8.2 million, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, and is recognized in Cost of goods sold and operating expenses in the Statements of Consolidated Operations. The estimated amortization expense relating to intangible assets for each of the five succeeding fiscal years is as follows:

	(In Millions)
	Amount
Year Ending December 31
2012	$	18.0
2013		17.9
2014		17.9
2015		6.0
2016		6.0
Total	$	65.8

The below-market sales contracts are classified as a liability and recognized over the terms of the underlying contracts, which range from 3.5 to 8.5 years. For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, we recognized $57.0 million, $62.4 million and $30.3 million, respectively, in Product revenues related to the below-market sales contracts. The following amounts will be recognized in Product revenues for each of the five succeeding fiscal years:

	(In Millions)
	Amount
Year Ending December 31
2012	$	48.8
2013		45.3
2014		23.0
2015		23.0
2016		23.1
Total	$	163.2