## MINERALS TECHNOLOGIES INC. AND SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES 

## NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

Property, plant and equipment are depreciated over their useful lives. Useful lives are based on management's estimates of the period that the assets can generate revenue, which does not necessarily coincide with the remaining term of a customer's contractual obligation to purchase products made using those assets. The Company's sales of PCC are predominantly pursuant to long-term evergreen contracts, initially ten years in length, with paper mills at which the Company operates satellite PCC plants. The terms of many of these agreements have been extended, often in connection with an expansion of the satellite PCC plant. Failure of a PCC customer to renew an agreement or continue to purchase PCC from a Company facility could result in an impairment of assets charge or accelerated depreciation at such facility. 

Depletion of mineral reserves is determined on a unit-of-extraction basis for financial reporting purposes, based upon proven and probable reserves, and on a percentage depletion basis for tax purposes. 

## Stripping Costs Incurred During Production 

Stripping costs are those costs incurred for the removal of waste materials for the purpose of accessing ore body that will be produced commercially. Stripping costs incurred during the production phase of a mine are variable costs that are included in the costs of inventory produced during the period that the stripping costs are incurred. 

## Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets 

Long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. If events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable, the Company estimates the undiscounted future cash flows (excluding interest), resulting from the use of the asset and its ultimate disposition. If the sum of the undiscounted cash flows (excluding interest) is less than the carrying value, the Company recognizes an impairment loss, measured as the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the fair value of the asset, determined principally using discounted cash flows. 

## Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets 

Goodwill represents the excess of purchase price and related costs over the value assigned to the net tangible and identifiable intangible assets of businesses acquired. Goodwill is not amortized, but instead assessed for impairment. Intangible assets with estimable useful lives are amortized over their respective estimated lives to the estimated residual values, and reviewed for impairment. 

The Company performs a qualitative assessment for each of its reporting units to determine if the two step process for impairment testing was required. If the Company determines that it was more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit was less than its carrying amount, the Company would then have evaluated the recoverability of goodwill using a two- step impairment test approach at the reporting unit level. In the first step, the fair value for the reporting unit is compared to its book value including goodwill. In the case that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than book value, a second step is performed which compares the fair value of the reporting unit's goodwill to the book value of the goodwill. The fair value for the goodwill is determined based on the difference between the fair values of the reporting unit and the net fair values of the identifiable assets and liabilities of such reporting unit. If the fair value of the goodwill is less than the book value, the difference is recognized as an impairment. 

## Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations 

The Company provides for obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets and the associated asset retirement costs. The fair value of a liability for an asset retirement obligation is recognized in the period in which it is incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset. The Company also provides for legal obligations to perform asset retirement activities where timing or methods of settlement are conditional on future events. 

## Fair Value of Financial Instruments 

The recorded amounts of cash and cash equivalents, receivables, short-term borrowings, accounts payable, accrued interest, and variable-rate long-term debt approximate fair value because of the short maturity of those instruments or the variable nature of underlying interest rates. Short-term investments are recorded at cost, which approximates fair market value. 

## Derivative Financial Instruments 

The Company records derivative financial instruments which are used to hedge certain foreign exchange risk at fair value on the balance sheet. See Note 9 for a full description of the Company's hedging activities and related accounting policies. 

