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Principles of Consolidation and Nature of Operations
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2024
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Principles of Consolidation and Nature of Operations Principles of Consolidation and Nature of Operations
The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of NACCO Industries, Inc.® (NACCO) and its wholly owned subsidiary, NACCO Natural Resources Corporation® (NACCO Natural Resources and with NACCO collectively, the Company, we, our or us). NACCO Natural Resources brings natural resources to life by delivering aggregates, minerals, reliable fuels and environmental solutions through our robust portfolio of businesses. We operate under three business segments: Coal Mining, North American Mining® (NAMining) and Minerals Management. The Coal Mining segment operates surface coal mines for power generation companies. The NAMining segment is a trusted mining partner for producers of aggregates, activated carbon, lithium and other industrial minerals. The Minerals Management segment, which includes the Catapult Mineral Partners (Catapult) business, acquires and promotes the development of mineral interests. Mitigation Resources of North America® (Mitigation Resources) provides stream and wetland mitigation solutions as well as comprehensive reclamation and restoration construction services. In addition, ReGen Resources is pursuing opportunities to develop new power generation resources.

We have items not directly attributable to a reportable segment that are not included in the reported financial results of the operating segment. These items primarily include administrative costs related to public company reporting requirements, including management and board compensation, and the financial results of Bellaire Corporation (Bellaire), Mitigation Resources, ReGen Resources and other developing businesses. Bellaire manages our long-term liabilities related to former Eastern U.S. underground mining activities. Intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation. See Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion of segment reporting.

Our operating segments are further described below:

Coal Mining Segment
The Coal Mining segment operates surface coal mines under long-term contracts with power generation companies pursuant to a service-based business model. Coal is surface mined in North Dakota and Mississippi. Each mine is fully integrated with our customer's operations.

As of December 31, 2024, the Coal Mining segment's operating coal mines were: The Coteau Properties Company (Coteau), Coyote Creek Mining Company, LLC (Coyote Creek), The Falkirk Mining Company (Falkirk) and Mississippi Lignite Mining Company (MLMC). Each of these mines supply lignite coal for power generation and delivers our coal production to an adjacent power plant or synfuels plant under a long-term supply contract. While MLMC’s coal supply contract contains a take or pay provision, the contract contains a force majeure provision that allows for the temporary suspension of the take or pay provision during the duration of certain specified events beyond the control of either party; all other coal supply contracts are requirements contracts. Certain coal supply contracts can be terminated early, which would result in a reduction to future earnings.

The MLMC contract is the only coal supply contract in which we are responsible for all operating costs, capital requirements and final mine reclamation; therefore, MLMC is consolidated within our financial statements. MLMC sells coal to its customer at a contractually agreed-upon price which adjusts monthly, primarily based on changes in the level of established indices which reflect general U.S. inflation rates. Profitability at MLMC is affected by customer demand for coal and changes in the indices that determine sales price and actual costs incurred. As diesel fuel is heavily weighted among the indices used to determine the coal sales price, fluctuations in diesel fuel prices can result in significant fluctuations in earnings at MLMC. MLMC's customer operates the Red Hills Power Plant, which supplies electricity to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) under a long-term power purchase agreement. MLMC’s contract with its customer runs through April 1, 2032. TVA’s power portfolio includes coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, natural gas and renewables. The decision regarding which power plants to dispatch is determined by TVA. Reduction in dispatch of the Red Hills Power Plant will result in reduced earnings at MLMC.

During 2023, MLMC received notice from our customer related to a boiler issue at the Red Hills Power Plant that began on December 15, 2023. We assessed MLMC's long-lived assets for impairment and recorded a $65.9 million impairment charge in 2023. See Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K for further information on the long-lived asset impairment charge. While this issue has been resolved, it resulted in a reduction in customer demand which had a significant impact on our results of operations during 2024. We recognized income of $13.6 million in 2024 related to business interruption insurance recoveries to partially offset losses related to the boiler outage.
The Sabine Mining Company (Sabine) operates the Sabine Mine in Texas. All production from Sabine was delivered to
Southwestern Electric Power Company's (SWEPCO) Henry W. Pirkey Plant (the Pirkey Plant). SWEPCO is an American
Electric Power (AEP) company. As a result of the early retirement of the Pirkey Plant, Sabine ceased deliveries and commenced final reclamation on April 1, 2023. Funding for mine reclamation is the responsibility of SWEPCO, and Sabine receives compensation for providing mine reclamation services. Sabine will provide mine reclamation services through September 30, 2026. As of October 1, 2026, SWEPCO has an obligation to acquire all of the capital stock of Sabine and complete the remaining mine reclamation.

At Coteau, Coyote Creek and Falkirk, we are paid a management fee per ton of coal or heating unit (MMBtu) delivered. Each contract specifies the indices and mechanics by which fees change over time, generally in line with broad
measures of U.S. inflation. Our customers are responsible for funding all mine operating costs, including final mine
reclamation, and directly or indirectly providing all of the capital required to build and operate the mine. This contract structure eliminates exposure to spot coal market price fluctuations while providing income and cash flow with minimal capital investment. Other than at Coyote Creek, debt financing provided by or supported by the customers is without recourse to us. See Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K for further discussion of Coyote Creek's guarantees.

Coteau, Coyote Creek, Falkirk and Sabine each meet the definition of a variable interest entity (VIE). In each case, NACCO
is not the primary beneficiary of the VIE as we do not exercise financial control; therefore, we do not consolidate the results of these operations within our financial statements. Instead, these contracts are accounted for as equity method investments. We regularly evaluate if there are reconsideration events which could change our conclusion as to whether these entities meet the definition of a VIE and the determination of the primary beneficiary. The income before income taxes associated with these VIEs is reported as Earnings of unconsolidated operations on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and our investment is reported on the line Investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The mines that meet the definition of a VIE are referred to collectively as the Unconsolidated Subsidiaries. For tax purposes, the Unconsolidated Subsidiaries are included within our consolidated U.S. tax return; therefore, the Income tax benefit line on the Consolidated Statements of Operations includes income taxes related to these entities. See Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K for further information on the Unconsolidated Subsidiaries.

We perform contemporaneous reclamation activities at each mine in the normal course of operations. Under all of the Unconsolidated Subsidiaries’ contracts, the customer has the obligation to fund final mine reclamation activities. Under certain contracts, the Unconsolidated Subsidiary holds the mine permit and is therefore responsible for final mine reclamation activities. To the extent the Unconsolidated Subsidiary performs such final reclamation, it is compensated for providing those services in addition to receiving reimbursement from customers for costs incurred.

NAMining Segment
The NAMining segment provides value-added contract mining and other services for producers of industrial minerals. The segment is a platform for our growth and diversification of mining activities outside of the thermal coal industry. NAMining provides contract mining services for independently owned mines and quarries, creating value for our customers by performing the mining aspects of our customers’ operations. This allows customers to focus on their areas of expertise: materials handling and processing, product sales and distribution. As of December 31, 2024, NAMining operates in Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Virginia and Nebraska.

In addition, Sawtooth Mining, LLC (Sawtooth) will be the exclusive provider of comprehensive mining services for the Thacker Pass lithium project in Humboldt County, Nevada. Thacker Pass is owned by a joint venture between Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX:LAC) (NYSE: LAC) and General Motors Holdings LLC. Thacker Pass commenced construction in 2023 and is targeting initial production in 2027. Sawtooth will be reimbursed for costs of mining, capital expenditures and mine closure and will recognize a contractually agreed upon production fee once the mine is operating. In addition to providing comprehensive mining services, Sawtooth is currently assisting with certain construction services and will transport clay tailings once lithium production commences

During 2024 and 2023, NAMining amended and extended existing limestone contracts with two customers and expanded the scope of work with several other customers. New contracts signed in 2024 are expected to be accretive to earnings starting in 2026.
Minerals Management Segment
The Minerals Management segment derives income primarily by leasing our royalty and mineral interests to third-party exploration and production companies, and, to a lesser extent, other mining companies, granting them the rights to explore, develop, mine, produce, market and sell gas, oil, and coal in exchange for royalty payments based on the lessees' sales of those minerals.

The Minerals Management segment owns royalty interests, mineral interests, non-participating royalty interests and overriding royalty interests (collectively mineral and royalty interests).

Royalty Interest. Royalty interests generally result when the owner of a mineral interest leases the underlying minerals to an exploration and production company pursuant to an oil and gas lease. Typically, the resulting royalty interest is a cost-free percentage of production revenues for minerals extracted from the acreage. A holder of royalty interests is generally not responsible for capital expenditures or lease operating expenses, but royalty interests may be calculated net of post-production expenses, and typically have no environmental liability. Royalty interests leased to producers expire upon the expiration of the oil and gas lease and revert to the mineral owner.
Mineral Interest. Mineral interests are perpetual rights of the owner to explore, develop, exploit, mine and/or produce any or all of the minerals lying below the surface of the property. The holder of a mineral interest has the right to lease the minerals to an exploration and production company. Upon the execution of an oil and gas lease, the lessee (the exploration and production company) becomes the working interest owner and the lessor (the mineral interest owner) has a royalty interest.
Non-Participating Royalty Interest (NPRIs). NPRI is an interest in oil and gas production which is created from the mineral estate. The NPRI is expense-free, bearing no operational costs of production. The term non-participating indicates that the interest owner does not share in the bonus, rentals from a lease, nor the right to participate in the execution of oil and gas leases. The NPRI owner does; however, typically receive royalty payments.
Overriding Royalty Interest (ORRIs). ORRIs are created by carving out the right to receive royalties from a working interest. Like royalty interests, ORRIs do not confer an obligation to make capital expenditures or pay for lease operating expenses and have limited environmental liability; however, ORRIs may be calculated net of post-production expenses, depending on how the ORRI is structured. ORRIs that are carved out of working interests are linked to the same underlying oil and gas lease that created the working interest, and therefore, such ORRIs are typically subject to expiration upon the expiration or termination of the oil and gas lease.

We may own more than one type of mineral and royalty interest in the same tract of land. For example, where we own an ORRI in a lease on the same tract of land in which we own a mineral interest, the ORRI in that tract will relate to the same gross acres as the mineral interest in that tract.

The Minerals Management segment does not currently have any material investments under which we would be required to bear the cost of exploration, production or development. The Minerals Management segment will benefit from the continued
development of our mineral properties without the need for investment of additional capital once mineral and royalty interests
have been acquired as the capital costs or lease operating expenses are born entirely by the operators or working interest
owners.

During 2024 and 2023, Minerals Management invested a total of $19.1 million, including $15.7 million in the fourth quarter of
2024, in Eiger, LLC (Eiger), which holds non-operated working interests in oil and natural gas assets in the Kansas and the Oklahoma portion of the Hugoton basin. This entity meets the definition of a VIE. NACCO is not the primary beneficiary of the VIE as it does not exercise financial control; therefore, we do not consolidate the results of these operations within our financial statements. Instead, this contract is accounted for as an equity method investment. During 2024, we recorded $0.6 million, which represented our share of earnings, as Earnings of unconsolidated operations on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Our investment is reported on the line Equity method investment in Eiger, LLC in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Due to a lag in Eiger's financial reporting, earnings or losses from this investment will be recorded on a one quarter lag.

Excluding the Eiger investment described above, total consideration for acquisitions of mineral and royalty interests was $0.7 million and $36.7 million, in 2024 and 2023, respectively. The 2024 acquisitions include 13.7 thousand gross acres and 0.6 thousand net royalty acres. The 2023 acquisitions included 43.4 thousand gross acres and 2.5 thousand net royalty acres.
We also manage legacy royalty and mineral interests located in Ohio (Utica and Marcellus shale natural gas), Louisiana (Haynesville shale and Cotton Valley formation natural gas), Texas (Cotton Valley and Austin Chalk formation natural gas), Mississippi (coal), Pennsylvania (coal, coalbed methane and Marcellus shale natural gas), Alabama (coal, coalbed methane and natural gas) and North Dakota (coal, oil and natural gas). The majority of our legacy reserves were acquired as part of our historical coal mining operations.

Total oil and gas mineral and royalty interests include approximately 198.4 thousand gross acres and 63.9 thousand net royalty acres at December 31, 2024. Net royalty acres are calculated based on our ownership and royalty rate, normalized to a standard 1/8th royalty lease, and assumes a 1/4th royalty rate for unleased acres. See Note 17 for further discussion of Minerals Management.

Other items: At December 31, 2024 and 2023, we had $14.2 million and $6.5 million classified as Assets held for sale, primarily for draglines at NAMining and a building, respectively.

During 2024, we had cash proceeds from the sale of assets held by a qualified intermediary to facilitate tax-deferred exchange transactions under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. In May 2024, we sold land for $7.0 million and recognized a $4.5 million gain in the Minerals Management segment, which is included on the line (Gain) loss on sale of assets within the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations. We structured this transaction in a manner that qualified as a like-kind exchange pursuant to Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code and used all of the net proceeds from the sale during the year ended December 31, 2024.

During 2023, our Board of Directors approved the termination of the Combined Defined Benefit Plan (Combined Plan) and participants were offered lump-sum distributions as part of the termination process. As a result of the lump-sum distributions, we recognized a non-cash, pension settlement charge of $1.8 million in 2023 on the line Other, net within the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K for further information on the Combined Plan.

On December 1, 2022, we transferred our ownership interest in Midwest AgEnergy Group, LLC (MAG) to HLCP Ethanol Holdco, LLC. We received cash payments totaling $3.6 million during 2023 in connection with MAG and recognized the gain on the line Other, net within the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations.