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Related Party Transactions
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]  
Related Party Transactions

9. Related Party Transactions

Reimbursements to Affiliates of our General Partner

The Partnership’s general partner does not receive any management fee or other compensation for its management of Natural Resource Partners L.P. However, in accordance with the partnership agreement, the general partner and its affiliates are reimbursed for expenses incurred on the Partnership’s behalf. All direct general and administrative expenses are charged to the Partnership as incurred. The Partnership also reimburses indirect general and administrative costs, including certain legal, accounting, treasury, information technology, insurance, administration of employee benefits and other corporate services incurred by our general partner and its affiliates. The Partnership had an amount payable to Quintana Minerals Corporation of $0.3 million at March 31, 2012 for services provided by Quintana to the Partnership.

The reimbursements to affiliates of the Partnership’s general partner for services performed by Western Pocahontas Properties and Quintana Minerals Corporation are as follows:

 

 

                 
    Three Months Ended
March  31,		  
    2012     2011  
   

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

  

Reimbursement for services

   $ 2,523     $ 2,062  
   

 

 

    

 

 

  

In addition to the reimbursements for services, the Partnership had an amount payable of $0.8 million to Great Northern Properties for amounts due on a lease that were paid incorrectly to the Partnership by a lessee. The Partnership also leases substantially all of two floors of an office building in Huntington, West Virginia from Western Pocahontas Properties and pays $0.5 million in lease payments each year through December 31, 2018.

Cline Affiliates

Various companies controlled by Chris Cline lease coal reserves from the Partnership, and the Partnership provides coal transportation services to them for a fee. At March 31, 2012, Mr. Cline, both individually and through another affiliate, Adena Minerals, LLC, owns a 31% interest in the Partnership’s general partner, as well as 16,686,672 common units. Revenues from the Cline affiliates are as follows:

 

 

                 
    Three Months Ended
March  31,		  
    2012     2011  
   

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

  

Coal royalty revenues

   $ 8,623     $ 9,179  

Processing fees

     502       701  

Transportation fees

     4,108       4,099  

Minimums recognized as revenue

     9,556       —    

Override revenue

     926       451  
   

 

 

    

 

 

  
    $ 23,715     $ 14,430  
   

 

 

    

 

 

  

At March 31, 2012, the Partnership had accounts due from Cline affiliates totaling $59.6 million, of which $47.7 million was attributable to long-term contracts relating to the recent Sugar Camp acquisition. The Partnership had received $42.1 million in minimum royalty payments that have not been recouped by Cline affiliates, of which $4.5 million was received in the current year. The $9.6 million in minimums recognized as revenue was attributable to an agreement in 2012 by Gatling Ohio, LLC to relinquish its recoupment rights.

Quintana Capital Group GP, Ltd.

Corbin J. Robertson, Jr. is a principal in Quintana Capital Group GP, Ltd., which controls several private equity funds focused on investments in the energy business. In connection with the formation of Quintana Capital, the Partnership adopted a formal conflicts policy that establishes the opportunities that will be pursued by the Partnership and those that will be pursued by Quintana Capital. The governance documents of Quintana Capital’s affiliated investment funds reflect the guidelines set forth in NRP’s conflicts policy.

A fund controlled by Quintana Capital owns a significant membership interest in Taggart Global USA, LLC, including the right to nominate two members of Taggart’s 5-person board of directors. The Partnership owns and leases preparation plants to Taggart Global, which designs, builds and operates the plants. The lease payments are based on the sales price for the coal that is processed through the facilities. The Partnership currently leases four facilities to Taggart. Revenues from Taggart are as follows:

 

 

                 
    Three Months Ended
March  31,		  
    2012     2011  
   

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

  

Processing revenues

   $ 1,345     $ 2,207  
   

 

 

    

 

 

  

At March 31, 2012, the Partnership had accounts receivable totaling $0.8 million from Taggart.

A fund controlled by Quintana Capital owns Kopper-Glo, a small coal mining company that is one of the Partnership’s lessees with operations in Tennessee. Revenues from Kopper-Glo are as follows:

 

 

                 
    Three Months Ended
March  31,		  
    2012     2011  
   

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

  

Coal royalty revenues

   $ 760     $ 334  
   

 

 

    

 

 

  

The Partnership also had accounts receivable totaling $0.3 million from Kopper-Glo at March 31, 2012.