Your client, Hazelton Mining, recently entered into an agreement to obtain the rights to operate a coal mine in West Virginia for $15 million. Hazelton incurred development costs of $6 million in preparing the mine for extraction, which began on July 1, 2021. The contract requires Hazelton to restore the land and surrounding area to its original condition after extraction is complete in three years. The company controller, Alice Cushing, is not sure how to account for the restoration costs and has asked your advice. Alice is aware of an accounting standard addressing this issue, but is not sure of its provisions. She has narrowed down the possible cash outflows for the restoration costs to four possibilities. 

Cash Outflow...............................Probability 

$3 million........................................20% 

4 million.............................................30% 

5 million............................................25% 

6 million...........................................25% 

Alice also informs you that the company’s credit-adjusted risk-free interest rate is 9%. Before responding to Alice, you need to research the issue. 

Required: 

1. Access the FASB Accounting Standards Codification at the FASB website (www.fasb.org). Determine the specific Codification citation for each of the following, based on the format indicated: 

(a) accounting for asset retirement obligations (XXX-XX), (b) recognition criteria related to asset retirement obligations (XXXXX-XX), (c) the requirement to recognize the fair value of the asset retirement obligation as a liability (XXXXX-XX-X), and (d) how to treat the capitalized cost of the asset retirement obligation for the related tangible long-lived asset (XXX-XX-XX-X). 

2. Determine the capitalized cost of the coal mine. 3. Prepare a summary journal entry to record the acquisition costs of the mine. 

4. How much accretion expense will the company record in its income statement for the 2021 fiscal year, related to this transaction? Determine the specific Codification citation for each of the following, based on the format indicated: 

(a) the calculation of accretion expense (XXX-XX-XX-X) and (b) the classification of accretion expense in the income statement (XXX-XX-XX-X). 

5. Explain to Alice how Hazelton would account for the restoration if the restoration costs differed from the recorded liability in three years. By way of explanation, prepare the journal entry to record the payment of the retirement obligation in three years assuming that the actual restoration costs were $4.7 million. 

6. Describe to Alice the necessary disclosure requirements for the obligation. What specific Codification citation contains these disclosure requirements (XXX-XX-XX-X)?