Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

9.  Income Taxes

The Company has estimated that its effective income tax rate for 2012 will be approximately 27.0%.  As in prior periods, the primary reason for the effective rate being below the federal statutory rate is due to statutory depletion, which is allowed for income tax purposes and is a permanent difference between net income for financial reporting purposes and taxable income.