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Revenue Recognition
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
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 or mine area 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 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. Revenue from part sales is recognized upon transfer of control of the parts to the customer.

The Minerals Management segment enters into contracts which grant 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, if any, 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 pricing 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 three to five years.

Mitigation Resources generates and sells stream and wetland mitigation credits (known as mitigation banking) and provides services to those engaged in permittee-responsible stream and wetland mitigation. Each mitigation credit sale is considered a separate performance obligation. Revenue is recognized at the point in time that control of each mitigation credit transfers to the customer. Fluctuations in revenue from period to period generally result from changes in customer demand. Under the permittee-responsible stream and wetland mitigation model, the contracts are generally structured as a management fee agreement under which Mitigation Resources is reimbursed for all costs incurred in performing the required mitigation plus an agreed profit percentage or a fixed fee. The mitigation services provided is the performance obligation and is accounted for as a series. Performance momentarily creates an asset that the customer simultaneously receives and consumes; therefore, control is transferred to the customer as work is completed. 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. Fluctuations in revenue from period to period result from changes in customer demand primarily due to increases and decreases in activity levels of individual contracts and variances in reimbursable costs.
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.

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.
At the Thacker Pass lithium project, in addition to management fee income, the customer will reimburse Sawtooth for up to $50 million of capital expenditures. Sawtooth will recognize revenue over the estimated useful life of the asset on a straight-line basis as the performance obligation is satisfied over time. Sawtooth recognized $1.5 million and $0.1 million in revenue for reimbursable costs during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. In accordance with the Thacker Pass mining agreement, the customer received a $3.5 million advance from Sawtooth, which is included in the long-term contract asset. The customer will pay a $4.7 million success fee to Sawtooth upon achieving commercial mining milestones or repay the $3.5 million advance if such commercial mining milestones are not met.

Prior Period Performance Obligations
The Company records royalty income in the month production is delivered to the purchaser. As a mineral owner, 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 March 31, 2024 and 2023, royalty income recognized in the reporting period related to performance obligations satisfied in prior reporting periods was immaterial.

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.

The following table disaggregates revenue by major sources as of March 31:

THREE MONTHS ENDED
MARCH 31
2024 2023
Timing of Revenue Recognition
Goods transferred at a point in time$15,108 $20,146 
Services transferred over time38,181 29,995 
Total revenues$53,289 $50,141 
Contract Balances
The opening and closing balances of the Company’s current and long-term contract assets and liabilities and receivables are as follows:
Contract balances
Trade accounts receivableContract asset
(long-term)		Contract liability (current)Contract liability (long-term)
Balance, January 1, 2024$37,429 $3,712 $878 $1,470 
Balance, March 31, 202427,958 3,500 930 2,117 
Increase (decrease)$(9,471)$(212)$52 $647 

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 three to 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 March 31, 2024 and 2023 included in the opening contract liability was $0.2 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 three to five years.

The Company expects to recognize an additional $0.9 million in the remainder of 2024, $1.2 million in 2025, $0.1 million in 2026, less than $0.1 million in 2027 and $0.8 million in the years after 2027 related to the contract liability remaining at March 31, 2024. 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.