INCOME TAXES Level 1 (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2025

INCOME TAXES [Abstract]

Income Taxes

INCOME TAXES

    The provision for income tax expense by fiscal year consists of the following (in thousands):

	2025		2024		2023
Current
Federal	$	8,790	$	6,059	$	7,503
State	2,959		2,243		2,119
Foreign	226		226		4
Current Income Tax Total	11,975		8,528		9,626
Deferred
Federal	433		934		(3,864)
State	(233)		778		(567)
Foreign	40		(15)		—
Deferred Income Tax Total	240		1,697		(4,431)
Total Income Tax Expense	$	12,215	$	10,225	$	5,195

    Principal reasons for variations between the statutory federal rate and the effective rates by fiscal year were as follows:

	2025		2024		2023
U.S. federal income tax rate	21.0	%	21.0	%	21.0	%
Depletion deductions allowed for mining	(4.5)		(5.3)		(7.7)
State income tax expense, net of federal tax expense	3.6		3.5		2.9
Nondeductible officer compensation	1.3		2.2		1.5
Stock Based Compensation	(1.0)		(2.1)		—
U.S. Tax Impacts of Foreign Branch	0.4		1.3		(0.2)
Tax credits	(0.4)		(0.2)		(0.3)
Valuation allowance - foreign	0.5		0.4		(0.2)
Statutory rate change of foreign subsidiaries	(0.1)		0.3		—
Prior year income taxes	(1.7)		(0.3)		(1.3)
Foreign tax differential	(0.1)		0.1		(0.6)
Other	(0.6)		(0.3)		(0.1)
Effective income tax rate	18.4	%	20.6	%	15.0	%

The combination of tax credits claimed in fiscal year 2025 contributed to a reduction in the effective tax rate when compared to fiscal year 2024.

    The Consolidated Balance Sheets included the following tax effects of cumulative temporary differences as of July 31 (in thousands):

`

	2025				2024
	Assets		Liabilities		Assets		Liabilities
Amortization	$	—	$	5,863	$	—	$	6,307
Depreciation	—		6,237		—		5,692
Lease liabilities	3,961		—		5,105		—
Lease right of use assets	—		3,670		—		4,778
Accrued expenses	4,494		—		4,347		—
Federal & State NOL carryforward	2,470		—		2,975		—
Stock-based compensation	2,214		—		1,894		—
Foreign NOL carryforward	2,197		—		1,889		—
Deferred compensation	1,931		—		1,603		—
Capitalized R&D	1,029		—		783		—
Reclamation	785		—		712		—
Other assets	555		—		693		—
Postretirement benefits	422		—		454		—
Inventories	185		—		435		—
Depletion	—		121		—		141
Allowance for credit losses	213		—		85		—
Other liabilities	—		428		—		33
Other liabilities - foreign	—		—		8		17
Valuation allowance	(2,846)		—		(2,470)		—
Total deferred taxes	$	17,610	$	16,319	$	18,513	$	16,968

     Deferred tax assets and liabilities related to leases decrease as leases expire.

We recorded a valuation allowance of $2.8 million and $2.5 million as of July 31, 2025 and July 31, 2024, respectively, for the amount of the deferred tax benefit related to our foreign net operating loss carryforwards and certain state net operating loss carryforwards since we believe it is unlikely we will realize the benefit of these tax attributes in the future. As of July 31, 2025, we have total net operating loss carryforwards from state jurisdictions of approximately $13.0 million. The carryforward expiration dates vary by state.

With the exception of our foreign subsidiary in Canada, none of our foreign subsidiaries have generated any untaxed foreign income, therefore we have not provided for any related income taxes for these subsidiaries.

We had no liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits based on tax positions related to the current and prior fiscal years as of July 31, 2025 and 2024; correspondingly, no related interest and penalties were recognized as income tax expense and there were no accruals for such items in either of these fiscal years.

We are subject to U.S. federal income tax as well as income tax in multiple state and foreign jurisdictions. We were audited by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") for fiscal year 2020 with no adjustments upon closure of the audit. The federal tax returns for fiscal years 2021-2024 remain open for examination. Foreign and U.S. state jurisdictions have statutes of limitations generally ranging from 3 to 5 years. The state impact of any federal income tax changes remains subject to examination by various states for a period of up to one year after formal notification to the states. There are a limited number of open state and local income tax audits in which no material issues have been preliminarily identified. There are no material open or unsettled foreign income tax audits. We believe our accrual for tax liabilities is adequate for all open audit years.