Revenue Recognition

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenue Recognition

Revenue Recognition

Nature of Performance Obligations

At contract inception, the Company assesses the goods and services promised in its contracts with customers and identifies a performance obligation for each promised good or service that is distinct. To identify the performance obligations, the Company considers all of the goods or services promised in the contract regardless of whether they are explicitly stated or are implied by customary business practices.

Each mine has a contract with its respective customer that represents a contract under ASC 606. For its consolidated entities, the Company’s performance obligations vary by contract and consist of the following:

At MLMC, each MMBtu delivered during the production period is considered a separate performance obligation. Revenue is recognized at the point in time that control of each MMBtu of lignite transfers to the customer. Fluctuations in revenue from period to period generally result from changes in customer demand.

At NAMining, the management service is primarily to oversee the operation of the equipment, and delivery of aggregates or other minerals is the performance obligation accounted for as a series. Performance momentarily creates an asset that the customer simultaneously receives and consumes; therefore, control is transferred to the customer over time. Consistent with the conclusion that the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits provided, an input-based measure of progress is appropriate. As each month of service is completed, revenue is recognized for the amount of actual costs incurred, plus the management fee or fixed fee and the general and administrative fee (as applicable). Fluctuations in revenue from period to period result from changes in customer demand primarily due to increases and decreases in activity levels on individual contracts and variances in reimbursable costs.

Included within NAMining, Caddo Creek has a fixed-price contract to perform mine reclamation. The management service to perform mine reclamation is the performance obligation accounted for as a series. Performance momentarily creates an asset that the customer simultaneously receives and consumes; therefore, control is transferred to the customer over time. Revenue from this contract is recognized over time utilizing the cost-to-cost method to measure the extent of progress toward completion of the performance obligation. The Company believes the cost-to-cost method is the most appropriate method to measure progress and that the rate at which costs are incurred to fulfill the contract best depicts the transfer of control to the customer. The extent of progress towards completion is measured based on the ratio of costs incurred to date compared to total estimated costs at completion, and revenue is recorded proportionally based on an estimated profit margin.

The Minerals Management segment enters into contracts which grant third-party lessees the right to explore, develop, produce and sell minerals controlled by the Company. These arrangements result in the transfer of mineral rights for a period of time; however, no rights to the actual land are granted other than access for purposes of exploration, development, production and sales. The mineral rights revert back to the Company at the expiration of the contract.

Under these contracts, granting exclusive right, title, and interest in and to minerals is the performance obligation. The performance obligation under these contracts represents a series of distinct goods or services whereby each day of access that is provided is distinct. The transaction price consists of a variable sales-based royalty and, in certain arrangements, a fixed component in the form of an up-front lease bonus payment. As the amount of consideration the Company will ultimately be entitled to is entirely susceptible to factors outside its control, the entire amount of variable consideration is constrained at contract inception. The Company believes that the provisions of royalty contracts are customary in the industry. Up-front lease bonus payments represent the fixed portion of the transaction price and are recognized over the primary term of the contract, which is generally five years.

Significant Judgments

The Company’s contracts with its customers contain different types of variable consideration including, but not limited to, management fees that adjust based on volumes or MMBtu delivered, however, the terms of these variable payments relate specifically to the Company's efforts to satisfy one or more, but not all of, the performance obligations (or to a specific outcome from satisfying the performance obligations) in the contract. Therefore, the Company allocates each variable payment (and subsequent changes to that payment) entirely to the specific performance obligation to which it relates. Management fees, as well as general and administrative fees, are also adjusted based on changes in specified indices (e.g., CPI) to compensate for general inflation changes. Index adjustments, if applicable, are effective prospectively.

Recognition of revenue and recognition of profit related to the Caddo Creek contract requires the use of assumptions and estimates related to the total contract value, the total cost at completion, and the measurement of progress towards completion of the performance obligation. Due to the nature of the contract, developing the estimated total contract value and total cost at completion requires the use of significant judgment. The total contract value includes variable consideration. The Company includes variable consideration in the transaction price at the most likely amount to be earned, based upon the Company’s assessment of expected performance. The Company records these amounts only to the extent it is probable that a significant reversal of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is resolved.

Cost Reimbursement

Certain contracts include reimbursement from customers of actual costs incurred for the purchase of supplies, equipment and services in accordance with contractual terms. Such reimbursable revenue is variable and subject to uncertainty, as the amounts received and timing thereof is highly dependent on factors outside of the Company’s control. Accordingly, reimbursable revenue is fully constrained and not recognized until the uncertainty is resolved, which typically occurs when the related costs are incurred on behalf of a customer. The Company is considered a principal in such transactions and records the associated revenue at the gross amount billed to the customer with the related costs recorded as an expense within cost of sales.

Prior Period Performance Obligations

The Company records royalty income in the month production is delivered to the purchaser. As a non-operator, the Company has limited visibility into when new wells start producing and production statements may not be received for 30 to 90 days or more after the date production is delivered. As a result, the Company is required to estimate the amount of production delivered to the purchaser of the product and the price that will be received for the sale of the product. The expected sales volumes and prices for these properties are estimated and recorded in "Trade accounts receivable" in the accompanying Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The difference between the Company’s estimates and the actual amounts received is recorded in the month that payment is received from the third-party lessee. For the three months ended September 30, 2022, royalty income recognized in the reporting periods related to performance obligations satisfied in prior reporting periods was immaterial. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, royalty income of $2.1 million was recognized for a settlement related to the Company’s ownership interest in certain mineral rights. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company recognized $1.8 million of variable consideration that was previously constrained due to uncertainty of collectability.

Disaggregation of Revenue

In accordance with ASC 606-10-50, the Company disaggregates revenue from contracts with customers into major goods and service lines and timing of transfer of goods and services. The Company determined that disaggregating revenue into these categories achieves the disclosure objective of depicting how the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows are affected by economic factors. The Company’s business consists of the Coal Mining, NAMining and Minerals Management segments as well as Unallocated Items. See Note 8 to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion of segment reporting.

	THREE MONTHS ENDED				NINE MONTHS ENDED
	SEPTEMBER 30				SEPTEMBER 30
	2022		2021		2022		2021
Timing of Revenue Recognition
Goods transferred at a point in time	$	22,043	$	20,436	$	68,402	$	61,931
Services transferred over time	39,750		31,306		109,783		80,812
Total revenues	$	61,793	$	51,742	$	178,185	$	142,743

Contract Balances

The opening and closing balances of the Company’s current and long-term accounts receivable, contract assets and contract liabilities are as follows:

	Contract balances
	Trade accounts receivable		Contract asset (long-term)		Contract liability (current)		Contract liability (long-term)
Balance, January 1, 2022	$	25,667	$	5,985	$	4,082	$	1,453
Balance, September 30, 2022	23,603		5,985		1,334		1,860
Increase (decrease)	$	(2,064)	$	—	$	(2,748)	$	407

As described above, the Company enters into royalty contracts that grant exclusive right, title, and interest in and to minerals. The transaction price consists of a variable sales-based royalty and, in certain arrangements, a fixed component in the form of an up-front lease bonus payment. The timing of the payment of the fixed portion of the transaction price is upfront, however, the performance obligation is satisfied over the primary term of the contract, which is generally five years. Therefore, at the time any such up-front payment is received, a contract liability is recorded which represents deferred revenue. The amount of royalty revenue recognized in both of the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 that was included in the opening contract liability was $0.2 million. The amount of royalty revenue recognized in both of the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 that was included in the opening contract liability was $0.7 million. This revenue consists of up-front lease bonus payments received under royalty contracts that are recognized over the primary term of the royalty contracts, which are generally five years.

The Company expects to recognize an additional $0.8 million in the remainder of 2022, $1.7 million in 2023, $0.5 million in 2024, $0.2 million in 2025 and a de minimis amount in 2026 related to the contract liability remaining at September 30, 2022. The difference between the opening and closing balances of the Company’s contract balances results from the timing difference between the Company’s performance and the customer’s payment.

The Company has no contract assets recognized from the costs to obtain or fulfill a contract with a customer.