Court Opinion

ID: 9795594
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:32:02.246584+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:30:03.595395
License: Public Domain

Maupin, J.,
concurring:
The Commission granted Meridian the right to accelerate its depreciation of Paradise Peak Mine leasehold improvements and fixed equipment for state tax purposes based upon a projected mine closure date in mid-1993. In its application for this tax treatment, Meridian repeatedly stressed that exhaustion of ore bodies necessitated the 1993 closure. However, between 1993 and 1995, Meridian continued gold production from previously extracted ore through the cyanide heap leaching process. In my view, that process constituted “mining operations” after the projected closure date; accordingly, Meridian was not entitled to accelerated depreciation based upon closure in mid-1993, and the Commission properly assessed an additional tax based upon straight-line depreciation.1

 See NAC 362.160.