Note 6 - Business Segments and Sales of Products

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Notes to Financial Statements

Segment Reporting Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 6.    Business Segments and Sales of Products

We discover, acquire and develop mines and other mineral interests and produce and market (i) concentrates containing silver, gold (in the case of Greens Creek), lead and zinc, (ii) carbon material containing silver and gold, and (iii) doré containing silver and gold. 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.

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 our reportable segments for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2020			2019			2020			2019
Net sales to unaffiliated customers:
Greens Creek	$	93,494		$	59,015		$	232,218		$	194,542
Lucky Friday		20,812			4,017			35,097			11,150
Casa Berardi		53,554			53,453			149,731			139,015
San Sebastian		9,138			15,435			23,998			39,028
Nevada Operations		22,705			29,612			61,939			64,586
	$	199,703		$	161,532		$	502,983		$	448,321
Income (loss) from operations:
Greens Creek	$	41,527		$	17,556		$	72,394		$	52,130
Lucky Friday		957			(3,727	)		(12,381	)		(8,779	)
Casa Berardi		(828	)		(380	)		(1,504	)		(26,262	)
San Sebastian		1,946			1,077			1,766			(2,358	)
Nevada Operations		5,489			(8,346	)		6,112			(43,812	)
Other		(17,762	)		(11,293	)		(40,144	)		(35,633	)
	$	31,329		$	(5,113	)	$	26,243		$	(64,714	)

The following table presents identifiable assets by reportable segment as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 (in thousands):

	September 30, 2020		December 31, 2019
Identifiable assets:
Greens Creek	$	612,963	$	639,047
Lucky Friday		508,053		440,615
Casa Berardi		695,629		703,511
San Sebastian		35,973		48,294
Nevada Operations		520,871		528,466
Other		241,661		277,375
	$	2,615,150	$	2,637,308

Our products consist of metal concentrates and carbon material which we sell to custom smelters, brokers and third-party processors, 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 and San Sebastian 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 unrefined 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 sales of carbon materials, which we have at our Nevada Operations unit commencing in 2020, with sales of unrefined doré there in previous periods, transfer of control takes place, the performance obligation is met, the transaction price is known, and revenue is recognized generally at the time of arrival at the customer's facility.

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 and the performance obligation has been met for those shipments. We have determined control is transferred and the performance obligation is met 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 what our performance obligations for our concentrate sales are. 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 September 30, 2020, metals contained in concentrate sales and exposed to future price changes totaled 1.2 million ounces of silver, 3,436 ounces of gold, 17,097 tons of zinc, and 3,207 tons of lead.  However, as discussed in Note 11, we seek to mitigate the risk of 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, third-party processors and metals traders. The percentage of sales contributed by each segment is reflected in the following table:

	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2020			2019			2020			2019
Greens Creek		47	%		37	%		46	%		44	%
Lucky Friday		10	%		2	%		7	%		2	%
Casa Berardi		27	%		33	%		30	%		31	%
San Sebastian		5	%		10	%		5	%		9	%
Nevada Operations		11	%		18	%		12	%		14	%
		100	%		100	%		100	%		100	%

Sales of products by metal for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were as follows (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2020			2019			2020			2019
Silver	$	79,684		$	40,588		$	179,013		$	122,392
Gold		98,457			103,889			278,363			261,734
Lead		13,370			7,114			32,244			22,809
Zinc		26,779			15,292			65,540			62,995
Less: Smelter and refining charges		(18,587	)		(5,351	)		(52,177	)		(21,609	)
Sales of products	$	199,703		$	161,532		$	502,983		$	448,321

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 nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2020		2019		2020			2019
Canada	$	80,410	$	88,610	$	89,998		$	258,708
Korea		78,152		33,683		129,939			109,184
Japan		14,337		17,339		32,071			34,924
Netherlands		—		445		(923	)		16,500
China		2,736		—		41,744			—
United States		33,627		20,407		223,032			29,142
Total, excluding gains/losses on derivative contracts	$	209,262	$	160,484	$	515,861		$	448,458

Sales by significant product type for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were as follows (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2020		2019		2020		2019
Doré and metals from doré	$	67,659	$	87,525	$	211,439	$	231,391
Carbon		23,835		17,745		43,099		27,376
Lead concentrate		85,511		37,685		192,179		122,727
Zinc concentrate		24,322		12,345		51,727		51,876
Bulk concentrate		7,935		5,184		17,417		15,088
Total, excluding gains/losses on derivative contracts	$	209,262	$	160,484	$	515,861	$	448,458

Sales of products for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 included net losses of $9.6 million and $12.9 million, respectively, on financially-settled forward contracts for silver, gold, lead and zinc contained in our sales. Sales of products for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2019 included a net gain of $1.1 million and net loss of $0.1 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 nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019:

	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2020			2019			2020			2019
CIBC		31	%		36	%		31	%		24	%
Ocean Partners		25	%		—	%		10	%		—	%
Korea Zinc		15	%		9	%		16	%		16	%
Teck Metals Ltd.		12	%		3	%		12	%		7	%
Scotia		—	%		18	%		4	%		26	%
Cliveden		—	%		12	%		—	%		4	%

Our trade accounts receivable balance related to contracts with customers was $28.5 million at September 30, 2020 and $12.0 million at December 31, 2019, 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. Payment for carbon sales is received within a relatively short period of time after 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 September 30, 2020 or December 31, 2019.