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, 2016. The contract requires Hazelton to restore the land and surrounding area to their 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:

a. With reference to relevant accounting standards, explain how to measure assets retirement obligations and how to account for assets retirement obligation.

b. Determine the capitalized cost of the coal mine (what should be the initial costs of the coalmine?)