Note 9. Credit Facilities and Capital Leases

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Note 9. Credit Facilities and Capital Leases

Credit Facilities

We have a $150 million senior secured revolving credit facility, which is collateralized by the shares of common stock held in our material subsidiaries and by our joint venture interests in the Greens Creek mine, all of our rights and interests in the joint venture agreement, and all of our rights and interests in the assets of the joint venture. This credit facility originated with a $60 million senior secured revolving credit agreement entered into in October 2009 that has been amended several times to its current form. Amounts borrowed under the credit agreement are available for general corporate purposes. The interest rate on outstanding loans under the agreement is between 3.00% and 3.75% above the LIBOR or an alternative base rate plus an applicable margin of between 2.00% and 2.75%. 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 August 1, 2015. We incurred $0.3 million in interest expense in the first nine months of 2012 for the amortization of loan origination fees and $0.7 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 September 30, 2012. We have not drawn funds on the current revolving credit facility as of the filing date of this quarterly report on Form 10-Q.

Capital Leases

We have entered into various lease agreements since 2009 for equipment at our Greens Creek and Lucky Friday units, which we have determined to be capital leases. We have a total liability of $14.8 million at September 30, 2012, relating to our capital lease obligations and estimated potential purchase option payments, with $4.6 million of the liability classified as current and $10.2 million classified as non-current. At December 31, 2011, the total liability balance associated with capital leases was $10.3 million, with $4.0 million of the liability classified as current and $6.3 million classified as non-current. The total obligation for future minimum lease payments was $15.5 million at September 30, 2012, with $0.8 million attributed to interest.

At September 30, 2012, the annual maturities of capital lease commitments, including interest, are (in thousands):

Twelve-month period ending September 30,
2013	$	4,436
2014		4,918
2015		4,091
2016		2,079
2017		5
Total		15,529
Less: imputed interest		(830	)
Net capital lease obligation	$	14,699

- Definition

The entire disclosure for information about short-term and long-term debt arrangements, which includes amounts of borrowings under each line of credit, note payable, commercial paper issue, bonds indenture, debenture issue, own-share lending arrangements and any other contractual agreement to repay funds, and about the underlying arrangements, rationale for a classification as long-term, including repayment terms, interest rates, collateral provided, restrictions on use of assets and activities, whether or not in compliance with debt covenants, and other matters important to users of the financial statements, such as the effects of refinancing and noncompliance with debt covenants.

+ References+ Details