Fuentez Mining Company purchased land containing an estimated 20 million tons of ore for a cost of $8,800,000. The land without the ore is estimated to be worth $1,600,000. The company expects that all the usable ore can be mined in 10 years. Building costing $800,000 with an estimated useful life of 30 years were erected on the site. Equipment costing $960,000 with an estimated useful life of 10 years was installed. Because of the remote location, neither the buildings nor the equipment has an estimated residual value. During its first year of operations, the company mined and sold 1,600,000 tons of ore.

Required

1. Compute the depletion charge per ton.

2. Compute the depletion expense that Fuentez mining should record for the year.

3. Determine the depreciation expense for the year for the buildings, making it proportional to the depletion.

4. Determine the depreciation expense for the year for the equipment under two alternatives:

(a) Making the expense proportional to the depletion and

(b) Using the straight line method.

5. Suppose the company mined and sold 2,000,000 tons of ore (instead of 1,600,000) during the first year. Would the change in the results in requirement 2 or 3 affect earnings or cash flows? Explain.