Note 9. Credit Facilities and Capital Leases

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Debt Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 9. Credit Facilities and Capital Leases

Credit Facilities

In October 2009 we entered into an amended $60 million senior secured revolving credit agreement.  The agreement was amended in December 2010 to extend the term of the agreement, reduce the commitment fee rate and interest rate spreads, allow the issuance of secured and unsecured debt and investments to governmental authorities as payment of obligations owed to such authorities, and to allow the release of certain liens and security interests granted to the lenders to secure the credit facility. The facility is collateralized by our Greens Creek assets, including the shares of common stock owned by us in the wholly-owned subsidiaries that hold the equity interest in the joint venture that owns the Greens Creek mine.  Amounts borrowed under the credit agreement are available for general corporate purposes.  The interest rate on outstanding loans under the agreement is between 2.75% and 3.5% above the LIBOR or an alternative base rate plus an applicable margin of between 1.75% and 2.5%.  We are required to pay a standby fee of between 0.825% and 1.05% per annum on undrawn amounts under the revolving credit agreement.  The credit facility is effective until January 31, 2014. We incurred $0.3 million in interest expense in the first half of 2011 for the amortization of loan origination fees and $0.2 million in interest expense for commitment fees relating to the credit agreement.  The credit agreement includes various covenants and other limitations related to our various financial ratios and indebtedness and investments, as well as other information and reporting requirements, including the following limitations:

● Leverage ratio (calculated as total debt divided by EBITDA) of not more than 3.0:1.

● Interest coverage ratio (calculated as EBITDA divided by interest expense) of not less than 3.0:1.

● Current ratio (calculated as current assets divided by current liabilities) of not less than 1.10:1.

● Tangible net worth of greater than $500 million.

We were in compliance with all covenants under the credit agreement as of June 30, 2011.  We have not drawn funds on the current revolving credit facility as of the filing date of the Form 10-Q.

Capital Leases

We entered into two 48-month lease agreements in 2011 and five 48-month lease agreements in 2010 and 2009 for equipment at our Greens Creek and Lucky Friday units, which we have determined to be capital leases.  We have a total liability balance of $7.5 million at June 30, 2011 relating to the lease obligations, with $3.0 million of the liability classified as current and the remaining $4.5 million classified as non-current. At December 31, 2010, the total liability balance associated with capital leases was $6.3 million, with $2.5 million of the liability classified as current and $3.8 million classified as non-current. The total obligation for future minimum lease payments was $8.1 million at June 30, 2011, with $0.6 million attributed to interest.

At June 30, 2011, the annual maturities of capital lease commitments, including interest, are (in thousands):

Twelve-month period ending June 30,
	2012	$	3,413
	2013	1,723
	2014	2,178
	2015	795
	Total		8,109
	Less:  imputed interest		(591	)
	Net capital lease obligation	$	7,518