Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

ENVIRONMENTAL AND MINE CLOSURE OBLIGATIONS

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ENVIRONMENTAL AND MINE CLOSURE OBLIGATIONS
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Environmental Remediation Obligations [Abstract]  
ENVIRONMENTAL AND MINE CLOSURE OBLIGATIONS
NOTE 13 - ENVIRONMENTAL AND MINE CLOSURE OBLIGATIONS
We had environmental and mine closure liabilities of $202.5 million and $200.1 million at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. The following is a summary of the obligations:
 
(In Millions)
 
March 31,
2018
 
December 31,
2017
Environmental
$
3.1

 
$
2.9

Mine closure
 
 
 
U.S. Iron Ore1
170.7

 
168.4

Asia Pacific Iron Ore
28.7

 
28.8

Total mine closure
199.4

 
197.2

Total environmental and mine closure obligations
202.5

 
200.1

Less current portion
21.3

 
3.6

Long-term environmental and mine closure obligations
$
181.2

 
$
196.5

 
 
 
 
1 U.S. Iron Ore includes our active operating mines, our indefinitely idled Empire mine and a closed mine formerly operating as LTVSMC.

As of March 31, 2018, we reclassified $17.7 million of our mine closure liability from long-term Environmental and mine closure obligations to Other current liabilities based on our plan to begin reclamation activities at Asia Pacific Iron Ore later this year.
Mine Closure
The accrued mine closure obligation for our active mining operations provides for contractual and legal obligations associated with the eventual closure of the mining operations. The accretion of the liability and amortization of the related asset is recognized over the estimated mine lives for each location.
The following represents a roll forward of our mine closure obligation liability for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and for the year ended December 31, 2017:
 
(In Millions)
 
March 31,
2018
 
December 31,
2017
Mine closure obligation at beginning of period
$
197.2

 
$
204.0

Accretion expense
2.7

 
14.9

Remediation payments
(0.1
)
 
(5.6
)
Exchange rate changes
(0.5
)
 
1.5

Revision in estimated cash flows
0.1

 
(17.6
)
Mine closure obligation at end of period
$
199.4

 
$
197.2


For the year ended December 31, 2017, the revision in estimated cash flows relates primarily to updates to our estimates resulting from our three-year in-depth review of our mine closure obligations for each of our U.S. mines. The primary driver of the decrease in estimated cash flows was the Empire mine, as the mine closure obligation was reduced $26.2 million as a result of the refinement of the cash flows required for reclamation, remediation and structural removal. Prior estimates were based on RS Means (a common costing methodology used in the construction and demolition industry) costing data while the current estimate was compiled using a more detailed cost build-up approach. The overall decrease in estimated cash flows for our U.S. Iron Ore mines was offset partially by an increase in costs of $10.1 million relating to the refinement of expected costs to be incurred at the end of life of mine at our Asia Pacific Iron Ore operations.