A field exploration program is being planned for 2013 to acquire additional resource definition and geotechnical information to assist in future engineering studies.
There is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of our contingent bitumen resources.
Wintering Hills Wind Power Facility
During 2012, our share of the power generation from Wintering Hills was 88 GWh. Expected power generation in 2013 is dependent on weather conditions and the anticipated 85 to 90 GWhs of power to be generated will result in approximately 55,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent offsets.
OTHER COST AND EXPENSES
Other operating expense, net of other income, was $54 million in the fourth quarter compared with $117 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. Fourth quarter expenses in 2012 included $20 million of negative price adjustments and $23 million of share-based compensation, which is larger than usual as a result of our increased share price in the period. Other expenses in the fourth quarter of 2011 included $27 million of share-based compensation, $30 million of asset write-downs and $33 million of provisions for our closed properties.
The table below outlines our outstanding receivable positions, which were provisionally valued at September 30, 2012 and our receivable positions provisionally valued at, December 31, 2012.
Outstanding at Outstanding at September 30, 2012 December 31, 2012 ----------------------------------------------------(pounds in millions) Pounds US$/lb Pounds US$/lb----------------------------------------------------------------------------Copper 169 3.74 179 3.59Zinc 184 0.95 143 0.93----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Financing expenses were $118 million in the fourth quarter compared with $169 million a year ago. The debt interest component of our financing expense decreased to $95 million from $124 million in the fourth quarter of last year due to the lower interest rates on the new notes issued pursuant to our debt refinancing partly offset by higher average debt levels.
Non-operating expense, net of income, includes items that arise from financial and other matters and includes such items as foreign exchange, debt refinancing costs, realized gains or losses on marketable securities and gains and losses on the revaluation of fixed price call options on certain of our high-yield notes. In the fourth quarter of 2012, our non-operating expense was $314 million, which was primarily comprised of a $313 million charge ($259 million after-tax) on the redemption of the final portion of our high-yield notes. This compares with $81 million of non-operating income, net of expenses, in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Income and resource taxes for the quarter were $66 million, or 30% of pre-tax profit, which is higher than the Canadian statutory income tax rate of 25%. This is due mainly to the effect of resource taxes and higher tax rates in foreign jurisdictions, and the loss on redemption of our high-yield notes that was not fully tax deductible. Offsetting this were the settlement of tax appeals and adjustments to our provision for foreign withholding taxes based on our reinvestment plans. The tax rate on our adjusted profit was 35% in both the quarter and on a year-to-date basis. We are currently shielded from cash income taxes, but not resource taxes in Canada. We remain subject to cash taxes in foreign jurisdictions.
