3. Accounting Policies

Revenue Recognition. The Company recognizes revenue for its Lime and Limestone Operations in accordance with the terms of its purchase orders, contracts or purchase agreements, which are generally upon shipment, and when payment is considered probable. Revenues include external freight billed to customers with related costs in cost of revenues. The Company’s returns and allowances are minimal. External freight billed to customers included in 2017 and 2016 revenues was $5.9 million and $5.6 million for the three-month periods, and $12.0 million and $10.6 million for the six-month periods, respectively, which approximates the amount of external freight included in cost of revenues. Sales taxes billed to customers are not included in revenues. For its Natural Gas Interests, the Company recognizes revenue in the month of production and delivery.

Successful-Efforts Method Used for Natural Gas Interests. The Company uses the successful-efforts method to account for oil and gas exploration and development expenditures. Under this method, drilling, completion and workover costs for successful exploratory wells and all development well costs are capitalized and depleted using the units-of-production method. Costs to drill exploratory wells that do not find proved reserves are expensed.

Comprehensive Income. Accounting principles generally require that recognized revenue, expenses, gains and losses be included in net income. Certain changes in assets and liabilities, such as mark-to-market gains or losses on interest rate and foreign exchange hedges, are reported as a separate component of the equity section of the balance sheet. Such items, along with net income, are components of comprehensive income.

Fair Values of Financial Instruments. Fair value is defined as “the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.” The Company uses a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which classifies the inputs used in measuring fair values, in determining the fair value of its financial assets and liabilities. These tiers include: Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets; Level 2, defined as observable inputs other than Level 1 prices such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities; and Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions. Specific inputs used to value the Company’s foreign exchange hedges were Euro to U.S. Dollar exchange rates for the expected future payment dates for the Company’s commitments denominated in Euros. See Note 6. There were no changes in the methods and assumptions used in measuring fair value.

The Company’s financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis at June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, are summarized below (in thousands):


					Significant Other
					Observable Inputs
					(Level 2)
	June 30,		December 31,		June 30,		December 31,
	2017		2016		2017		2016		Valuation Technique
Foreign exchange hedges	$	88	$	(352)	$	88	$	(352)	Cash flows approach

New Accounting Pronouncements. In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09 (“ASU 2014-09”), “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” which stipulates that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To achieve this core principle, an entity should apply the following steps: (1) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (2) identify the performance obligations in the contract(s); (3) determine the transaction price; (4) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract(s); and (5) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation. The new guidance will be effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016. Almost all of the Company’s purchase orders, contracts or purchase agreements do not contain performance obligations other than delivery of the agreed upon product, which is primarily FOB shipping point. Thus, the Company generally recognizes revenue upon shipment of the product. While the Company is still in the process of completing an analysis of all of its revenue generating activities and the contracts which might impact its revenue generating activities in light of the new standard, the Company does not believe that any of its revenue streams will be materially affected by the adoption of ASU 2014-09, and therefore it does not expect its Consolidated Statements of Operations will be materially affected. The Company plans to adopt ASU 2014-09 beginning January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective approach and recognize a cumulative effect of the change, if any, to opening retained earnings in the year of adoption.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02 (“ASU 2016-02”), “Leases,” which requires the recognition of lease assets and lease liabilities by lessees for all leases greater than one year in duration and classified as operating leases under previous guidance. ASU 2016-02 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 and interim periods within those periods, with early adoption permitted. ASU 2016-02 must be adopted using a modified retrospective transition and requires application of the new guidance at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented. As of December 31, 2016, the Company’s undiscounted minimum contractual commitments under long-term leases, which were not recorded on the Company’s December 31, 2016 Consolidated Balance Sheet, was $6.8 million, which is an estimate of the effect on total assets and total liabilities that the new accounting standard could have on that date. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that this standard will have on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-09 (“ASU 2016-09”), “Compensation–Stock Compensation,” which requires that excess tax benefits (which represent the excess of actual tax benefits received at the date of vesting or settlement over the vesting period or upon issuance of share-based payments) and tax deficiencies (which represents the amount by which actual tax benefits received at the date of vesting or settlement is lower than the benefits recognized over the vesting period or upon issuance of share-based payments) be recorded in the income statement as a reduction or increase of income taxes when an award vests. It also requires excess tax benefits to be classified as an operating activity in the statement of cash flows rather than a financing activity. In addition, it simplifies other aspects of share-based payment transactions, including classification of awards that permit repurchase to satisfy statutory tax withholding requirements and classification of tax payments on behalf of employees on the statement of cash flows. The Company adopted this guidance in the first quarter 2017, and it did not have a material effect on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.