Backwoods Mining $C_0,$ acquired mineral rights for $$45,004,000.$ The mineral deposit is estimated at $17,800,000$ tons. During the current year, $2,000,000$ tons were mined and sold.

Required:

a$.$ Determine the amount of depletion expense for the current year.

b$.$ Journalize the adjusting entry on December $31$ to recognize the depletion expense. Refer to the chart of accounts for the exact wording of the account titles. CNOW journals do not use lines for journal explanations. Every line on a journal page is used for debit or credit entries. CNOW journals will automatically indent a credit entry when a credit amount is entered.