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EXECUTIVE RETIREMENT AND SEVERANCE | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2016
Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract] |
EXECUTIVE RETIREMENT AND SEVERANCE |
8. | EXECUTIVE RETIREMENT AND SEVERANCE
In October 2005, the Board of Directors adopted an Executive Retirement Policy (the “Retirement Plan”) for the benefit of certain executive officers of the Company. To be eligible to participate in the Retirement Plan, the executive officer was required to serve as one of the designated executive officers for at least 15 years, reached the age of 60, and been an employee of the Company on December 31, 2010. Upon retirement, the executive was entitled to cash payments equaling 50% of the greater of (i) the amount of compensation earned as base cash pay on the final regular pay check or (ii) the average annual pay, less all bonuses, received over the last five years of employment with the Company. The Company periodically engaged the services of a third party actuary to determine the estimated liability under the Retirement Plan. Presented below is a summary of changes in the liability for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015:
|  | 2016 |  |  | 2015 |
Balance, beginning of year |  | $ | 583 |  |  | $ | 1,309 |
Adjustment to fair value |  |  | - |  |  |  | 45 |
Payment of retirement benefits |  |  | (583 | ) |  |  | (694 | )
Negotiated settlement at discount and other |  |  | - |  |  |  | (77 | )
Balance, end of year |  | $ | 0 |  |  | $ | 583 |
As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, the current portion of the Company’s liability under the Retirement Plan amounted to $0 and $583, respectively. These amounts are included in accrued compensation and benefits in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, and the remainder of the liability is included in other long-term liabilities. Total compensation expense under the Retirement Plan for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 was $3 and $45, respectively. In order to fund the Retirement Plan obligation, the Company periodically made cash contributions to a separate trust account that was managed by an independent trustee. As of December 31, 2014, the Company had funded $1,291 in the trust account, which is recorded as other long term assets in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2014. The trust account was invested in debt and equity securities until December 2015 when the trust was terminated and the investments were liquidated for cash in the amount of $1,271 which was included in cash and equivalents as of December 31, 2015. The Company and the Retirement Plan participants mutually agreed to terminate the Retirement Plan in December 2015, and all obligations were settled through cash payments during the first quarter of 2016. In connection with the early retirement of the former COO, effective January 1, 2015 the Company entered into a 12-month consulting agreement with an affiliate of the former executive to provide assistance with matters related to the Company’s mining properties. The total payments under the consulting agreement amounted to $274, which is included in mine property holding costs within discontinued operations in the accompanying statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2015. During 2016, the Company made total payments of $3 for employee severance. During 2015, the Company entered into severance agreements with three former executive officers that provided for total payments of $379. The Company also incurred severance costs of $125 related to other employees of the Company, resulting in total severance expense of $504 for the year ended December 31, 2015.

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