Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

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BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
NOTE 1 - BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with SEC rules and regulations and, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly the financial position, results of operations, comprehensive income and cash flows for the periods presented. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Management bases its estimates on various assumptions and historical experience, which are believed to be reasonable; however, due to the inherent nature of estimates, actual results may differ significantly due to changed conditions or assumptions. The results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018 or any other future period. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.
As more fully described in NOTE 16 - DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS, on January 25, 2018, we announced that we would accelerate the time frame for the planned closure of our Asia Pacific Iron Ore mining operations in Australia. On April 6, 2018, we committed to a course of action leading to the permanent closure of the Asia Pacific Iron Ore mining operations and, as planned, completed our final shipment in June 2018. Factors considered in this decision included increasingly discounted prices for lower-iron-content ore and the quality of the remaining iron ore reserves.
During June 2018, we completed a sale of the mobile equipment to a third party and entered into a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of the remaining assets of our Asia Pacific Iron Ore business to Mineral Resources Limited. The sale to Mineral Resources Limited has not been completed as of the date of this report due to the pendency of certain closing conditions. As a result, for the period ended June 30, 2018, management determined that our Asia Pacific Iron Ore operating segment met the criteria to be classified as held for sale and a discontinued operation under ASC 205, Presentation of Financial Statements. As such, all current and historical Asia Pacific Iron Ore operating segment results are included in our financial statements and classified within discontinued operations.
We now operate in one reportable segment – U.S. Iron Ore. Unless otherwise noted, discussion of our business and results of operations in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q refers to our continuing operations.
Basis of Consolidation
The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of our wholly-owned subsidiaries, including the following operations as of June 30, 2018:
Name
 
Location
 
Status of Operations
Northshore
 
Minnesota
 
Active
United Taconite
 
Minnesota
 
Active
Tilden
 
Michigan
 
Active
Empire
 
Michigan
 
Indefinitely Idled
Koolyanobbing1
 
Western Australia
 
Not Active
 
 
 
 
 
1 During June 2018, we completed the final planned shipment from Asia Pacific Iron Ore and commenced selling its assets. Refer to NOTE 16 - DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS.

Intercompany transactions and balances are eliminated upon consolidation.
Equity Method Investments
Our 23% ownership interest in Hibbing is recorded as an equity method investment. As of June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, our investment in Hibbing was $8.0 million and $11.0 million, respectively, classified as Other liabilities in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position.
Foreign Currency
Our financial statements are prepared with the U.S. dollar as the reporting currency. The functional currency of our Australian subsidiaries is the Australian dollar. Refer to NOTE 16 - DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS for further information regarding our Australian subsidiaries. The functional currency of all other international subsidiaries is the U.S. dollar. To the extent that monetary assets and liabilities, including short-term intercompany loans, are recorded in a currency other than the functional currency, these amounts are remeasured each reporting period, with the resulting gain or loss being recorded in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations. Transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement of short-term intercompany loans are included in Miscellaneous – net in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations.
The following represents the transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement:
 
 
(In Millions)
 
 
Three Months Ended
June 30,
 
Six Months Ended
June 30,
 
 
2018
 
2017
 
2018
 
2017
Short-term intercompany loans
 
$
(0.1
)
 
$
1.5

 
$
(0.3
)
 
$
16.6

Other
 
—

 
(1.0
)
 
(0.2
)
 
(1.3
)
Net impact of transaction gains (losses) resulting from remeasurement
 
$
(0.1
)
 
$
0.5

 
$
(0.5
)
 
$
15.3


Significant Accounting Policies
A detailed description of our significant accounting policies can be found in the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. There have been no material changes in our significant accounting policies and estimates from those disclosed therein other than those related to the adoption of Topic 606. Refer to NOTE 2 - NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS for further information.