INCOME TAXES |
9 Months Ended |
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Jun. 30, 2026 | |
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| INCOME TAXES | INCOME TAXES The Company’s effective income tax rate differs from the U.S. statutory federal income tax rate primarily due to U.S. valuation allowances recorded on deferred tax assets, U.S. statutory depletion, state income taxes (net of federal tax benefit), nondeductible executive compensation over $1 million, foreign income, mining and withholding taxes, and base erosion and anti-abuse tax. The effective tax rates applied to the nine months ended June 30, 2026 were determined by excluding the U.S. losses from the overall estimated annual effective tax rate computations and a separate estimated annual effective tax rate was computed and applied to the ordinary U.S. losses. Management assesses the available positive and negative evidence to estimate whether sufficient future taxable income will be generated to permit use of the existing deferred tax assets. A significant piece of objective negative evidence evaluated was the cumulative loss incurred in the U.S. over the three-year period ended June 30, 2026. Such objective evidence limits the ability to consider other subjective evidence, such as the Company’s projections for future income. On the basis of this evaluation, an additional valuation allowance of $7.2 million has been recorded to recognize only the portion of the U.S. deferred tax assets that is more likely than not to be realized. The amount of the deferred tax assets considered realizable, however, could be adjusted if objective negative evidence in the form of cumulative losses is no longer present and additional weight is given to subjective evidence such as the Company’s projections for income. As of June 30, 2026 and September 30, 2025, the Company had $84.2 million and $80.5 million, respectively, of gross federal net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards that have no expiration date and $7.3 million and $7.1 million at June 30, 2026 and September 30, 2025, respectively, of net operating tax-effected state NOL carryforwards which expire beginning in 2031. In November 2025, the Company reached a settlement with a Canadian provincial tax authority regarding a tax dispute for fiscal years 2002 through 2018. The Canadian provincial tax authority had challenged tax positions claimed by one of the Company’s Canadian subsidiaries and issued tax reassessments for fiscal years 2002 through 2020. The reassessments were the result of ongoing audits and totaled $209.8 million, including interest as of September 30, 2025. The settlement resolved the dispute for tax years 2002 through 2018. In connection with the settlement, the Company also revised its mining tax calculations for tax years subsequent to 2018 consistent with the principles agreed to in the settlement agreement. The Company is in the process of amending the relevant tax returns to obtain the associated federal and provincial refunds. The total net expected cash outlay, after taking into account expected federal refunds and deductions associated with the agreed upon tax and interest as well as estimated subsequent tax year impacts, is $8.7 million. Additionally, the settlement and other updates to uncertain tax positions resulted in an overall tax benefit of $3.5 million, for the nine months ended June 30, 2026. The Company previously paid $35.8 million over a period of several years to the Canadian tax authorities as a deposit, which was recorded in Other noncurrent assets in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The deposit was previously required to be paid by the Company to proceed with future appeals or litigation and was subsequently applied to the amount due at settlement. The remaining settlement amount of $24.8 million related to tax years 2002 through 2018 was paid in November 2025. The additional impacts of the settlement on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at June 30, 2026, as compared to September 30, 2025, included an increase of $21.4 million in Other current assets, due to expected federal refunds from amended returns to be filed; a decrease in Other noncurrent assets of $47.1 million, primarily due to the application of the deposit to the amount of the total settlement; and a decrease in Other noncurrent liabilities of $54.0 million, due to the change in liabilities for uncertain tax positions. With the settlement, the performance bonds of $157.4 million posted as collateral for the 2002 through 2018 period were released. On July 4, 2025, the U.S. enacted a budget reconciliation package known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025” (“OBBBA”), which includes both tax and non-tax provisions. While the Company is benefiting from the relaxing of interest deduction limitations, the Company does not view the legislation to significantly impact its income tax profile.
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