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Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

INCOME TAXES

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INCOME TAXES
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] Ìý
Income Taxes
NOTE 9 - INCOME TAXES
Our 2015 estimated annual effective tax rate before discrete items is approximately 2.1 percent. The annual effective tax rate differs from the U.S. statutory rate of 35 percent primarily due to deductions for percentage depletion in excess of cost depletion related to U.S. operations and the reversal of valuation allowances related to the utilization of net operating losses. A comparable annual effective tax rate has not been provided for the nine months ended 2014 as our loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 exceeded the anticipated ordinary loss for the full year and, therefore, our tax expense recorded was calculated using actual year-to-date amounts rather than an estimated annual effective tax rate.
There were discrete items booked in the first nine months of 2015 of approximately $162.6 million. These adjustments relate primarily to the placement of a valuation allowance against U.S. deferred tax assets that were recognized in prior years. There were discrete items booked in the first nine months of 2014 of approximately $35.0 million. These items were largely related to the recording of valuation allowances against existing deferred tax assets as a result of the determination that they would no longer be realizable, the repeal of the Australian Minerals Resources Rent Tax and the finalization of certain domestic and foreign tax returns.