Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

INCOME TAXES

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INCOME TAXES
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
NOTE 9 - INCOME TAXES
Our 2017 estimated annual effective tax rate before discrete items is approximately negative 1.7%. The annual effective tax rate differs from the U.S. statutory rate of 35% primarily due to the deductions for percentage depletion in excess of cost depletion related to U.S. operations and the reversal of valuation allowance from operations in the current year. The 2016 estimated annual effective tax rate before discrete items at September 30, 2016 was 0.4%.
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, we recorded discrete items that resulted in an income tax benefit of $5.9 million and $5.8 million respectively. These items relate primarily to the monetization of unused AMT credits upon the filing of the 2016 U.S. federal income tax return and adjustments to reserves for uncertain tax positions. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, there were discrete items that resulted in an income tax benefit of $2.9 million and $2.2 million, respectively. These items related primarily to prior year adjustments due to a change in estimate of the 2015 net operating loss and corresponding reversal of valuation allowance and quarterly interest accrued on reserves for uncertain tax positions.