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BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
BUSINESS SUMMARY 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 months ended March 31, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2015 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, 2014. As more fully described in NOTE 14 - DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS, in January 2015, we announced that the Bloom Lake Group commenced restructuring proceedings in Montreal, Quebec, under the CCAA. Bloom Lake had recently suspended operations and for several months had been exploring options to sell certain of its Canadian assets, among other initiatives. Effective January 27, 2015, following the CCAA filing of the Bloom Lake Group, we deconsolidated the Bloom Lake Group and certain other wholly-owned subsidiaries comprising substantially all of our Canadian operations (collectively, the "Canadian Entities"). Our pre-filing financial results in Canada and subsequent expenses directly associated with the Canadian Entities are included in our financial statements and classified within discontinued operations. Additionally, as we continue to re-focus our strategy on strengthening our U.S. Iron Ore operations, management has determined that our North American Coal operating segment as of March 31, 2015 met the criteria to be classified as held for sale under ASC 205 - Presentation of Financial Statements. As such, all current and historical North American Coal operating segment results are included in our financial statements and classified within discontinued operations. We will now report our results from continuing operations in two reportable segments: U.S. Iron Ore and Asia Pacific Iron Ore. Basis of Consolidation The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of our wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries, including the following operations:
Name |  | Location |  | Ownership Interest |  | Operation |  | Status of Operations
Northshore |  | Minnesota |  | 100.0% |  | Iron Ore |  | Active
United Taconite |  | Minnesota |  | 100.0% |  | Iron Ore |  | Active
Tilden |  | Michigan |  | 85.0% |  | Iron Ore |  | Active
Empire |  | Michigan |  | 79.0% |  | Iron Ore |  | Active
Koolyanobbing |  | Western Australia |  | 100.0% |  | Iron Ore |  | Active
Pinnacle |  | West Virginia |  | 100.0% |  | Coal |  | Active - Held for Sale
Oak Grove |  | Alabama |  | 100.0% |  | Coal |  | Active - Held for Sale
Wabush 1 |  | Newfoundland and Labrador/ Quebec, Canada |  | 100.0% |  | Iron Ore |  | Permanent closure
Bloom Lake 1 |  | Quebec, Canada |  | 82.8% |  | Iron Ore |  | Care-and-maintenance
Cliffs Chromite Ontario - Black Label Deposit 1 |  | Ontario, Canada |  | 100.0% |  | Chromite |  | Suspended
Cliffs Chromite Ontario - Black Thor Deposit 1 |  | Ontario, Canada |  | 100.0% |  | Chromite |  | Suspended
Cliffs Chromite Ontario & Cliffs Chromite Far North - Big Daddy Deposit 1 |  | Ontario, Canada |  | 70.0% |  | Chromite |  | Suspended
1 As of January 27, 2015, we deconsolidated substantially all of our Canadian operations following the CCAA filing. See NOTE 14 - DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS for further information.
Intercompany transactions and balances are eliminated upon consolidation. Equity Method Investments Investments in unconsolidated ventures that we have the ability to exercise significant influence over, but not control, are accounted for under the equity method. The following table presents the detail of our investments in unconsolidated ventures and where those investments are classified in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014. Parentheses indicate a net liability.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | (In Millions)
Investment |  | Classification |  | Accounting Method |  | Interest Percentage |  | March 31, 2015 |  | December 31, 2014
Hibbing |  | Other non-current assets |  | Equity Method |  | 23% |  | $ | 2.5 |  |  | $ | 3.1 |
Other |  | Other non-current assets |  | Equity Method |  | Various |  | 0.9 |  |  | 1.0 |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ | 3.4 |  |  | $ | 4.1 |
Foreign Currency Our financial statements are prepared with the U.S. dollar as the reporting currency. The functional currency of the Company’s Australian subsidiaries is the Australian dollar. The functional currency of all other international subsidiaries is the U.S. dollar. The financial statements of international subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at each balance sheet date for assets and liabilities and a weighted average exchange rate for each period for revenues, expenses, gains and losses. Where the local currency is the functional currency, translation adjustments are recorded as Accumulated other comprehensive loss. Income taxes generally are not provided for foreign currency translation adjustments. To the extent that monetary assets and liabilities, inclusive of intercompany notes, 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 our Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations. For the three months ended March 31, 2015, net gains of $13.5 million related to the impact of transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement. Of these transaction gains and losses, for the three months ended March 31, 2015, gains of $12.4 million and gains of $1.5 million, respectively, resulted from remeasurement of short-term intercompany loans and cash and cash equivalents. For the three months ended March 31, 2014, losses of $11.4 million related to the impact of transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement, of which included losses of $8.8 million and losses of $3.1 million, respectively, resulted from remeasurement of short-term intercompany loans and cash and cash equivalents. 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, 2014 included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. The significant accounting policies requiring updates have been included within the disclosures below. Derivative Financial Instruments and Hedging Activities According to our global hedge policy, the policy allows for hedging not more than 75 percent, but not less than 40 percent for up to 12 months and not less than 10 percent for up to 15 months, of forecasted net currency exposures that are probable to occur. Full hedge compliance under the policy has been waived through December 31, 2015. The waiver was a result of the evaluation of the potential risk of being over hedged and the uncertainty of the 2015 currency exposures. During 2015, we have not entered into any new foreign currency exchange contracts to hedge our foreign currency exposure and we do not expect to enter into any during the remainder of 2015. In the future, we may enter into additional hedging instruments as needed in order to further hedge our exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Recent Accounting Pronouncements Issued and Not Effective In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs, which requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. This ASU requires retrospective adoption and will be effective for us beginning in our first quarter of 2016. Early adoption is permitted. We do not expect this adoption to have an impact on our Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations or Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Cash Flows. The impact of the adoption of the guidance will result in reclassification of the unamortized debt issuance costs on the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position, which were $46.2 million and $25.6 million at March 31, 2015 and December, 31, 2014, respectively.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the basis of presentation and significant accounting policies concepts. Basis of presentation describes the underlying basis used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). Accounting policies describe all significant accounting policies of the reporting entity. + References No definition available. + Details
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