Last Chance Mine (LC) purchased a coal deposit for $2,465,000. It estimated it would extract 17,000 tons of coal from the deposit. LC mined the coal and sold it, reporting gross receipts of $1.43 million, $5.45 million, and $3.5 million for years 1 through 3, respectively. During years 1–3, LC reported net income (loss) from the coal deposit activity in the amount of ($17,800), $625,000, and $560,000, respectively. In years 1–3, LC actually extracted 18,000 tons of coal as follows:
(1) (2) Depletion (2)/(1) Tons Extracted per Year
Tons of Coal Basis Rate Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
17,000 $2,465,000 $145.00 4,400 9,450 4,150
b. What is Last Chance's percentage depletion for each year (the applicable percentage for coal is 10 percent)?
c. Using the cost and percentage depletion computations from the previous parts, what is Last Chance’s actual depletion expense for each year?