Question

A company purchased a tract of land for its natural resources at a cost of $1,500,000. It expects to mine 2,000,000 tons of ore from this land. The salvage value of the land is expected to be $250,000. If 150,000 tons of ore are mined during the first year, the journal entry to record the depletion is:_______.
a. Debit Depletion Expense $93,750; credit Natural Resources $93,750.
b. Debit Cash $112,500; credit Natural Resources $112,500.
c. Debit Depletion Expense $93,750; credit Accumulated Depletion $93,750.
d. Debit Cash $93,750; credit Accumulated Depletion $93,750.
e. Debit Depletion Expense $112,500; credit Accumulated Depletion $112,500.

Answer 1

Answer:

Option c is the correct answer.

Explanation:

The depletion expense or charge for the period can be calculated using the following formula,

Depletion expense = [(Cost - Salvage Value) / Total units expected to be mined] * Units mined during the period

Depletion expense = [(1500000 - 250000) / 2000000] * 150000

Depletion expense = $93750

The entry to record the expense is,

Depletion expense            93750 Dr

     Accumulated depletion         93750 Cr

So, option c is the correct answer.