Note 6 - Business Segments and Sales of Products

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Segment Reporting Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 6.    Business Segments and Sales of Products

We discover, acquire, develop, produce, and market concentrates and doré containing silver, gold, lead and zinc. We are currently organized and managed in five segments, which represent our operating units: the Greens Creek unit, the Lucky Friday unit, the Casa Berardi unit, the San Sebastian unit, and the Nevada Operations unit. The Nevada Operations unit was added as a result of our acquisition of Klondex in July 2018 (see Note 13 for more information).

General corporate activities not associated with operating units and their various exploration activities, as well as discontinued operations and idle properties, are presented as “other.”  Interest expense, interest income and income taxes are considered general corporate items, and are not allocated to our segments.

The following tables present information about reportable segments for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2019			2018			2019			2018
Net sales to unaffiliated customers:
Greens Creek	$	55,398		$	74,605		$	135,527		$	140,455
Lucky Friday		4,951			3,287			7,133			8,264
Casa Berardi		45,500			56,103			85,562			111,651
San Sebastian		10,993			13,264			23,593			26,598
Nevada Operations		17,330			—			34,974			—
	$	134,172		$	147,259		$	286,789		$	286,968
Income (loss) from operations:
Greens Creek	$	9,141		$	25,516		$	34,574		$	48,668
Lucky Friday		(2,271	)		(5,261	)		(5,052	)		(9,407	)
Casa Berardi		(15,363	)		1,014			(25,882	)		4,264
San Sebastian		(1,923	)		(361	)		(3,435	)		4,656
Nevada Operations		(21,475	)		—			(35,466	)		—
Other		(11,586	)		(17,152	)		(24,340	)		(32,476	)
	$	(43,477	)	$	3,756		$	(59,601	)	$	15,705

The following table presents identifiable assets by reportable segment as of June 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018 (in thousands):

	June 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
Identifiable assets:
Greens Creek	$	643,811	$	637,386
Lucky Friday		438,362		437,499
Casa Berardi		722,882		754,248
San Sebastian		53,606		44,152
Nevada Operations		571,177		581,194
Other		240,875		249,465
	$	2,670,713	$	2,703,944

Our products consist of both metal concentrates, which we sell to custom smelters and brokers, and unrefined bullion bars (doré), which may be sold as doré or further refined before sale to precious metals traders. Revenue is recognized upon the completion of the performance obligations and transfer of control of the product to the customer.

For sales of metals from refined doré, which we currently have at our Casa Berardi, San Sebastian and Nevada Operations units, the performance obligation is met, the transaction price is known, and revenue is recognized at the time of transfer of control of the agreed-upon metal quantities to the customer by the refiner. For sales of doré, the performance obligation is met, the transaction price is known, and revenue is recognized at the time of transfer of title and control of the doré containing the agreed-upon metal quantities to the customer. Refining, selling and shipping costs related to sales of doré and metals from doré are recorded to cost of sales as incurred.

For concentrate sales, which we currently have at our Greens Creek and Lucky Friday units, the performance obligation is met, the transaction price can be reasonably estimated, and revenue is recognized generally at the time of shipment. Concentrates sold at our Lucky Friday unit typically leave the mine and are received by the customer within the same day. However, there is a period of time between shipment of concentrates from our Greens Creek unit and their physical receipt by the customer, and judgment is required in determining when control has been transferred to the customer for those shipments. We have determined the performance obligation is met and title is transferred to the customer upon shipment of concentrate parcels from Greens Creek because, at that time, 1) legal title is transferred to the customer, 2) the customer has accepted the parcel and obtained the ability to realize all of the benefits from the product, 3) the concentrate content specifications are known, have been communicated to the customer, and the customer has the significant risks and rewards of ownership of it, 4) it is very unlikely a concentrate parcel from Greens Creek will be rejected by a customer upon physical receipt, and 5) we have the right to payment for the parcel.

Judgment is also required in identifying the performance obligations for our concentrate sales. Most of our concentrate sales involve “frame contracts” with smelters that can cover multiple years and specify certain terms under which individual parcels of concentrates are sold. However, some terms are not specified in the frame contracts and/or can be renegotiated as part of annual amendments to the frame contract. We have determined parcel shipments represent individual performance obligations satisfied at a point in time when control of the shipment is transferred to the customer.

The consideration we receive for our concentrate sales fluctuates due to changes in metals prices between the time of shipment and final settlement with the customer. However, we are able to reasonably estimate the transaction price for the concentrate sales at the time of shipment using forward prices for the month of settlement, and previously recorded sales and accounts receivable are adjusted to estimated settlement metals prices until final settlement with the customer. Also, it is unlikely a significant reversal of revenue for any one concentrate parcel will occur. As such, we use the expected value method to price the parcels until the final settlement date occurs, at which time the final transaction price is known. At June 30, 2019, metals contained in concentrates and exposed to future price changes totaled 1.7 million ounces of silver, 6,473 ounces of gold, 11,021 tons of zinc, and 3,142 tons of lead.  However, as discussed in Note 11, we seek to mitigate the risk of negative price adjustments by using financially-settled forward contracts for some of our sales.

Sales and accounts receivable for concentrate shipments are recorded net of charges for treatment, refining, smelting losses, and other charges negotiated by us with the customers, which represent components of the transaction price. Charges are estimated by us upon shipment of concentrates based on contractual terms, and actual charges typically do not vary materially from our estimates. Costs charged by customers include fixed treatment and refining costs per ton of concentrate and may include price escalators which allow the customers to participate in the increase of lead and zinc prices above a negotiated baseline. Costs for shipping concentrates to customers are recorded to cost of sales as incurred.

Sales of metal concentrates and metal products are made principally to custom smelters, brokers and metals traders. The percentage of sales contributed by each segment is reflected in the following table:

	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2019			2018			2019			2018
Greens Creek		41	%		51	%		48	%		49	%
Lucky Friday		4	%		2	%		2	%		3	%
Casa Berardi		34	%		38	%		30	%		39	%
San Sebastian		8	%		9	%		8	%		9	%
Nevada Operations		13	%		—	%		12	%		—	%
		100	%		100	%		100	%		100	%

Sales of products by metal for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 were as follows (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2019			2018			2019			2018
Silver	$	36,298		$	38,425		$	81,804		$	73,647
Gold		78,166			77,635			157,845			150,679
Lead		6,670			10,690			15,695			19,917
Zinc		22,948			27,614			47,703			57,723
Less: Smelter and refining charges		(9,910	)		(7,105	)		(16,258	)		(14,998	)
	$	134,172		$	147,259		$	286,789		$	286,968

The following is sales information by geographic area based on the location of smelters and brokers (for concentrate shipments) and location of parent companies (for doré sales to metals traders) for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2019		2018		2019		2018
Canada	$	78,158	$	94,524	$	171,030	$	183,192
Korea		26,202		41,537		75,501		74,240
Japan		9,236		3,897		17,585		17,670
Netherlands		16,055		—		16,055		—
China		—		198		—		67
United States		3,228		4,407		7,801		8,488
Total, excluding gains/losses on forward contracts	$	132,879	$	144,563	$	287,972	$	283,657

Sales by significant product type for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 were as follows (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2019		2018		2019		2018
Doré and metals from doré	$	77,596	$	75,526	$	153,497	$	149,018
Lead concentrate		35,742		42,149		85,042		76,483
Zinc concentrate		15,738		22,579		39,530		48,231
Bulk concentrate		3,803		4,309		9,903		9,925
Total, excluding gains/losses on forward contracts	$	132,879	$	144,563	$	287,972	$	283,657

Sales of products included net gains of $1.3 million for the second quarter of 2019 and net losses of $1.2 million for the first half of 2019 on financially-settled forward and put option contracts for silver, gold, lead and zinc contained in our concentrate sales. Sales of products for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2018 included net gains of $2.7 million and $3.3 million, respectively, on forward contracts. See Note 11 for more information.

Sales of products to significant customers as a percentage of total sales were as follows for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2019 and 2018:

	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2019			2018			2019			2018
CIBC		24	%		28	%		19	%		38	%
Scotia		28	%		18	%		28	%		10	%
Korea Zinc		20	%		28	%		20	%		26	%
Teck Metals Ltd.		3	%		17	%		9	%		11	%
Ocean Partners		12	%		—	%		6	%		—	%

Our trade accounts receivable balance related to contracts with customers was $6.9 million at June 30, 2019 and $4.2 million at December 31, 2018, and included no allowance for doubtful accounts.

We have determined our contracts do not include a significant financing component. For doré sales and sales of metal from doré, payment is received at the time the performance obligation is satisfied. The amount of consideration for concentrate sales is variable, and we receive payment for a significant portion of the estimated value of concentrate parcels within a relatively short period of time after the performance obligation is satisfied.

We do not incur significant costs to obtain contracts, nor costs to fulfill contracts which are not addressed by other accounting standards. Therefore, we have not recognized an asset for such costs as of June 30, 2019 or December 31, 2018.

The sales and income (loss) from operations amounts reported above include results from our Lucky Friday segment. The Lucky Friday mine is our only operation where some of our employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement, and the most recent agreement expired on April 30, 2016. On February 19, 2017, the unionized employees voted against our contract offer, and on March 13, 2017 went on strike and have been on strike since that time. Production at Lucky Friday was suspended from the start of the strike until July 2017, when limited production resumed. For the first six months of 2019 and 2018, suspension costs not related to production of $3.0 million and $9.4 million, respectively, along with $2.1 million and $2.4 million, respectively, in non-cash depreciation expense, are reported in a separate line item on our consolidated statements of operations. We cannot predict how long the strike will last or whether an agreement will be reached. As a result of the strike or other related events, operations at Lucky Friday could continue to be disrupted, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. If the strike continues for a further extended period or it is determined an eventual resolution is unlikely, it may be appropriate in the future to review the carrying value of properties, plants, equipment and mineral interests at Lucky Friday. Under such review, if estimated undiscounted cash flows from Lucky Friday were less than its carrying value, an impairment loss would be recognized for the difference between the carrying value and the estimated fair value. The carrying value of properties, plants, equipment and mineral interests at Lucky Friday as of June 30, 2019 was approximately $435.9 million. However, Lucky Friday has significant identified reserves and mineralized material and a current estimated mine life of approximately 17 years.