Our business faces significant risks. Set forth below are all risks that we believe are material at this time.  Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks.  These risks should be read in conjunction with the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The globalCompany’s business and operating results are affected by worldwide and regional economic, instability experienced inbusiness, and industry conditions. In recent years, had caused,we have experienced, among other things, declining consumer and business confidence, volatile raw material prices, instability in credit markets, high unemployment, fluctuating interest and exchange rates, and other challenges in the countries in which we operate. The Company’s businessUncertainty or a deterioration in the economic conditions affecting the businesses to which, or geographic areas in which, we sell products could reduce demand for our products and operating results had been and could once again be adversely affected by these global economic conditions.inflationary pressures may increase our costs. The Company’s customers and potential customers may experience deterioration of their businesses, cash flow shortages, and difficulty obtaining financing. As discussed below, the industries we serve have in the past been adversely affected by the uncertain global economic climate due to the cyclical nature of their businesses. As a result, existing or potential customers may reduce or delay their growth and investments and their plans to purchase products, pursue inventory reduction measures, and may not be able to fulfill their obligations in a timely fashion. Further, suppliers could experience similar conditions, which could affect their ability to fulfill their obligations to the Company. We may also experience pricing pressure on products and services, or be unsuccessful in passing along to our customers an increase in our raw materials costs or energy prices, which could decrease our revenues and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and cash flows. Adversity within capital markets may also impact the Company’s results of operations by negatively affecting the amount of expense the Company records for its pension and other postretirement benefit plans. Actuarial valuations used to calculate income or expense for the plans reflect assumptions about financial market and other economic conditions – the most significant of which are the discount rate and the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets. Such actuarial valuations may change based on changes in key economic indicators. Global economic markets remain uncertain, and there can be no assurance that market conditions will improve in the near future. Future weakness in the global economy could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

Demand for our products is subject to trends in these markets. During periods of economic slowdown, our customers often reduce their capital expendituresexpenditure and defer or cancel pending projects. Such developments occur even amongst customers that are not experiencing financial difficulties. In addition, these trends could cause our customers to face liquidity issues or bankruptcy, which could deteriorate the aging of our accounts receivable, increase our bad debt exposure and possibly trigger impairment of assets or realignment of our businesses. The Company has taken steps to reduce its exposure to variations in its customers'customers’ businesses, including by diversifying its portfolio of products and services;services through geographic expansion, growth in less cyclical consumer oriented markets, and by structuring most of its long-term satellite PCC contracts to provide a degree of protection against declines in the quantity of product purchased, since the price per ton of PCCour products generally rises as the number of tons purchased declines. In addition, many of the Company'sour product lines lower its customers'our customers’ costs of production or increase their productivity, which should encourage them to use itsour products. However, there can be no assurance that these efforts will mitigate the risks of our dependence on these industries. Continued weakness in the industries we serve has had, and may in the future have, an adverse effect on sales of our products and our results of operations. A continued or renewed economic downturn in one or more of the industries or geographic regions that the Company serves, or in the worldwide economy, could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from historical and expected results.

The Company has many competitors. Some of our principal competitors have greater financial and income growthother resources than we have. Accordingly, these competitors may be better able to withstand economic downturns and changes in conditions within the industries in which we operate and may have significantly greater operating and financial flexibility than we do. We also face competition for some of our products from alternative products, and some of the competition we face comes from competitors in lower-cost production countries like China and India. As a result of the competitive environment in the markets in which we operate, we currently face and will continue to face pressure on the sales prices of our products from competitors, which could reduce profit margins.

Several consolidations in the paper industry have taken place in recent years and such consolidation could continue in the future. These consolidations could result in partial or total closure of some paper mills where the Company depends uponoperates satellite plants. Such closures would reduce the Company’s sales, except to the extent that they resulted in shifting paper production and associated purchases of calcium carbonate to another location served by the Company. Similarly, consolidations have occurred in the foundry and steel industries. Such consolidations in the major industries we serve concentrate purchasing power in the hands of a smaller number of manufacturers, enabling them to increase pressure on suppliers, such as the Company. This increased pressure could have an adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations in the future.

The Company’s sales of calcium carbonate to paper customers are typically pursuant to long-term evergreen agreements, initially ten years in length, with paper mills where the Company operates satellite plants. Sales pursuant to these contracts represent a significant portion of our sales in the Specialty Additives product line of the Consumer & Specialties segment. The terms of many of these agreements have been extended or renewed in the past, often in connection with an expansion of the satellite plant. However, failure of a number of uncertain events, including the outcomeCompany’s customers to renew or extend existing agreements on terms as favorable to the Company as those currently in effect, or at all, could have a substantial adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations, and could also result in impairment of the Company's strategies of increasing its penetration into geographic markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China as well as other Asian and Eastern European countries; increasing its penetration into product markets such asassets associated with the market for papercoating pigments andsatellite plant.

At December 31, 2017,2023, the Company had $1,020.8 million aggregate principal amount of total indebtedness (consisting primarily of $532.8 million aggregate principal amount of loans under our term facility, $400.0 million aggregate principal amount of notes and $85.0 million outstanding borrowingsunder our revolving credit facility) and an additional $205.6 million of $1.0 billion pursuantborrowing capacity under the revolving credit facility (after giving effect to our senior secured credit facility. This financing$9.1 million of outstanding letters of credit). Our outstanding indebtedness will require a significant amount of cash to make interest payments. Further, the interest rate on a significant portion of our borrowings under our senior secured credit facility is based on LIBORSOFR interest rates, which has resulted in and could continue to result in higher interest expense in the event of an increasecontinued increases in interest rates.  Our ability to pay interest on our debt and to satisfy our other debt obligations will depend in part upon our future financial and operating performance and upon our ability to renew or refinance borrowings. Prevailing economic conditions and financial, business, competitive, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, will affect our ability to make these payments. We cannot guarantee that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations or that future borrowings will be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to fund our liquidity needs. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow to meet our debt service obligations, we will have to pursue one or more alternatives, such as reducing or delaying capital or other expenditures, refinancing debt, selling assets, or raising equity capital. Further, the requirement to make significant interest payments may reduce the Company’s flexibility to respond to changing business and economic conditions or fund capital expenditure or working capital needs and may increase the Company’s vulnerability to adverse economic conditions.

The agreement governing our senior secured credit facility containsand the indenture that governs our 5.0% Senior Notes due 2028 contain a number of significant covenants that, among other things, limit our ability to: incur or guarantee additional debt or liens, consolidate or merge with any other person, alter the business we conduct, make investments, use the proceeds of asset sales or sale/leaseback transactions, enter into hedging arrangements,indebtedness, pay dividends or make other distributions or repurchase or redeem capital stock, prepay, redeem or repurchase certain other restricted payments, create dividenddebt, issue certain preferred stock or other payment restrictions with respect to subsidiaries,similar equity securities, make loans and investments, sell or otherwise dispose of assets, incur liens, enter into transactions with affiliates.affiliates, enter into agreements restricting our subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends and consolidate, merge or sell all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, our revolving credit facility, if used, requires uswe are required to comply with specific financial ratios, including a maximum net leverage ratio and a minimum interest coverage ratio, under which we are required to achieve specific financial results. Our ability to comply with these provisions may be affected by events beyond our control. A breach of any of these covenants would result in a default under the applicable agreements. In the event of any default under our senior secured credit facility, our lenders could elect to declare all amounts borrowed under the agreements,credit agreement, together with accrued interest thereon, to be due and payable. In such an event, we cannot assure you that we would have sufficient assets to pay debt then outstanding under the credit agreement, the indenture governing our notes, and any other agreements governing our debt. Any future refinancing of the senior secured credit facility is likely to contain similar restrictive covenants.

Sales and changes in tax treaties, laws and regulations, including the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which effected significant changes to the U.S. corporate income tax system. Our preliminary estimategrowth of the effectsCompany depends upon a number of this law, includinguncertain events. Growth will depend in part on sales growth from our existing businesses and customers. The Company has a mandatory deemed repatriation tax on our foreign subsidiaries’ previously untaxed foreign earnings and the remeasurement of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, is subjectstrategic growth initiative to finalization of management's analysis related to certain matters,increase penetration into geographic markets such as developing interpretations of the provisions of the law, changes to certain estimatesBrazil, India and amounts related to the earnings and profits of certain subsidiaries and the filing of our tax returns. Changes to our preliminary estimate of the effects of this law, which will be recorded in the period completed, could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations,China as well as other Asian and Eastern European countries. The Company also has a strategic growth initiative to increase penetration into consumer oriented markets such as pet litter, personal care, and oil purification. Our strategy also anticipates growth through future acquisitions. However, our effective tax rateability to identify and consummate any future acquisitions on terms that are favorable to us may be limited by the number of attractive acquisition targets, internal demands on our resources and our ability to obtain financing. Our success in integrating newly acquired businesses will depend upon our ability to retain key personnel, avoid diversion of management’s attention from operational matters, and integrate general and administrative services. In addition, future acquisitions could result in the periodincurrence of additional debt, costs and contingent liabilities. Integration of acquired operations may take longer, or be more costly or disruptive to our business, than originally anticipated, and it is also possible that expected synergies from future acquisitions may not materialize. We also may incur costs and divert management attention with regard to potential acquisitions that are never consummated. Difficulties, delays or failure of any of these strategies could affect the future growth rate of the Company.

The Company’s future business success will depend in part upon its ability to maintain and enhance its technological capabilities, to respond to changing customer needs, and to successfully anticipate or respond to technological changes on a cost-effective and timely basis. The Company is engaged in a continuous effort to develop new products and processes in all of its product lines. Difficulties, delays or failures in the development, testing, production, marketing or sale of such new products could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from our expected results.

The Company’s ability to compete is based in part upon proprietary knowledge, both patented and unpatented. The Company'sCompany’s ability to achieve anticipated results depends in part on its ability to defend its intellectual property against inappropriate disclosure and theft as well as against infringement. In addition, development by the Company'sCompany’s competitors of new products or technologies that are more effective or less expensive than those the Company offers could have a material adverse effect on the Company'sCompany’s financial condition or results of operations.

The Company does business in many areas internationally. Approximately 44%47% of our sales in 20172023 were derived from outside the United States and we have significant production facilities which are located outside of the United States. We have in recent years expanded our operations in emerging markets, and we plan to continue to do so in the future, particularly in China, India, Brazil, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Some of our operations are located in areas that have experienced political or economic instability, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Brazil, Thailand, China and South Africa.  The UK’s decision to exit the European Union (referred to as Brexit) has caused additional volatility in the markets and currency exchange rates. Market conditions and exchange rates could continue to be volatile in the near term as this decision is implemented.  As the Company expands its operations overseas, it faces increased risks of doing business abroad, including inflation, fluctuation in interest rates, changes in applicable laws and regulatory requirements, export and import restrictions, tariffs, nationalization, expropriation, limits on repatriation of funds, civil unrest,  terrorism, unstable governments and legal systems, and other factors. Further, geopolitical and terrorism threats, including armed conflict among countries, could in the future affect our business overseas, including leading to, among other things, impairment of our or our customers’ ability to conduct operations, adverse impact to our employees, and a loss of our investment. While recent geopolitical conflicts, such as between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, have not significantly affected our business, the broader consequences of geopolitical and terrorism threats, which may include sanctions that prohibit our ability to do business in specific countries, embargoes, supply chain disruptions, potential contractual breaches and litigation, regional instability and geopolitical shifts, cannot be predicted. We are also subject to increased risks of natural disasters, public health crises, including the occurrence of a contagious disease or illness, such as COVID-19, and other catastrophic events in such countries. Many of these risks are beyond our control and can lead to sudden, and potentially prolonged, changes in demand for our products, difficulty in enforcing agreements, and losses in the realizability of our assets. Adverse developments in any of the areas in which we do business could cause actual results to differ materially from historical and expected results. In addition, a significant portion of our raw material purchases and sales outside the United States are denominated in foreign currencies, and liabilities for non-U.S. operating expenses and income taxes are denominated in local currencies. Accordingly, reported sales, net earnings, cash flows and fair values have been and, in the future, will be affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Our overall success as a global business depends, in part, upon our ability to succeed in differing legal, regulatory, economic, social and political conditions. We cannot assure you that we will implement policies and strategies that will be effective in each location where we do business.

The Company depends in part on having an adequate supply of raw materials for its manufacturing operations, particularly lime and carbon dioxide for the production of PCC, product line, and magnesia and alumina for its Refractoryrefractory operations. Purchase prices and availability of these critical raw materials are subject to volatility. At any given time, we may be unable to obtain an adequate supply of these critical raw materials on a timely basis, on price and other terms, or at all. While most such raw materials are readily available, the Company has purchased approximately 57%54% of its magnesia requirements from sources in China over the past five years. The price and availability of magnesia have fluctuated in the past and they may fluctuate in the future. Price increases for certain other of our raw materials, including petrochemical products, as well as increases in energy prices, have also affected our business. Our production processes consume a significant amount of energy, primarily electricity, diesel fuel, natural gas and coal. We use diesel fuel to operate our mining and processing equipment and our freight costs are heavily dependent upon fuel prices and surcharges. Energy costs also affect the cost of raw materials. On a combined basis, these factors represent a large exposure to petrochemical and energy products which may be subject to significant price fluctuations. The contracts pursuant to which we construct and operate our satellite PCC plants generally adjust pricing to reflect the pass-through of increases in costs resulting from inflation, including energy. However, there is a time lag before such price adjustments can be implemented. The Company and its customers will typically negotiate reasonable price adjustments in order to recover these escalating costs, but there can be no assurance that we will be able to recover increasing costs through such negotiations.

The Company also depends on having adequate access to ore reserves of appropriate quality at its mining operations. There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating ore reserves including subjective judgments and determinations that are based on available geological, technical, contract and economic information. In addition, mining permits, leases and other rights are, or may be, required for certain of the Company’s mining operations.  Such permits, leases and other rights are subject to modification, renewal and revocation.  Our ability to maintain such mining permits, leases and other rights has been, and may continue to be, affected by changes in laws, regulations and governmental actions, particularly in emerging markets such as Turkey and China.  We cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain such mining permits, leases and other rights to the extent we currently maintain them or at all.

The Company relies on shipping bulk cargos of bentonite from the United States, Turkey and China to customers, as well as our own subsidiaries, and we are sensitive to our ability to recover these shipping costs. In the last few years, bulk cargo shipping rates have been very volatile, and, to a lesser extent, the availability of bulk cargo containers has been suspect. If we cannot secure our container requirements or offset additional shipping costs with price increases to customers, our profitability could be impacted. We are also subject to other shipping risks. In particular, rail service interruptions have affected our ability to ship, and the availability of rail service, and our ability to recover increased rail costs, may be beyond our control. In addition, governmental restrictions can, and during the COVID-19 pandemic did, affect our ability to ship our products.

The Company and certain of the Company’s subsidiaries are among numerous defendants in over five hundred cases seeking damages for alleged exposure to asbestos-contaminated talc products sold by the Company’s subsidiary BMI.  On October 2, 2023 (the “Petition Date”), notwithstanding the Company’s confidence in the safety of BMI’s talc products, BMI and Barretts Ventures Texas LLC filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Chapter 11 Cases”) to address and comprehensively resolve BMI’s liabilities associated with talc.  Minerals Technologies Inc. and the Company’s other subsidiaries were not included in the Chapter 11 filing.  BMI intends to pursue a sale of its talc assets under section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Proceeds of the sale will be used to fund the Chapter 11 Cases.  Barretts’ ultimate goal in the Chapter 11 Cases is to confirm a plan of reorganization under Section 524(g) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and utilize this provision to establish a trust that will address all current and future talc-related claims.  During the pendency of the Chapter 11 Cases, the Company anticipates that BMI will benefit from the operation of the automatic stay, which stays ongoing litigation in connection with talc-related claims against BMI.  In addition, subject to certain exceptions, the filing or continued prosecution of all talc-related claims against BMI’s non-debtor affiliates is temporarily stayed through April 1, 2024 (subject to further extensions), the date on which a hearing is scheduled on the status of the Chapter 11 Cases. Barretts has many competitors.  Somebeen deconsolidated from the Company’s financial statements since the Petition Date.

The Company’s operations are subject to international, federal, state and local governmental environmental, health and safety, tax and other laws and regulations. We have expended, and may be required to expend in the future, substantial funds for compliance with such laws and regulations. In addition, future events, such as changes to or modifications of interpretations of existing laws and regulations, or enforcement polices, or further investigation or evaluation of the potential environmental impacts of operations or health hazards of certain products, may affect our mining rights or give rise to additional compliance and other costs that could have a material adverse effect on the Company.  Further, certain of our principal competitors have greater financialcustomers are subject to various federal and international laws and regulations relating to environmental and health and safety matters, especially customers of our Environmental & Infrastructure product line of our Engineered Solutions segment, who are subject to drilling permits, waste water disposal and other resources thanregulations. To the extent that these laws and regulations affecting our customers change, demand for our products and services could also change and thereby affect our financial results. State, national, and international governments and agencies have been evaluating climate-related legislation and regulation that would restrict emissions of greenhouse gases in areas in which we have.  Accordingly, these competitorsconduct business, and some such legislation and regulation have already been enacted or adopted. Enactment of climate-related legislation or adoption of regulation that restrict emissions of greenhouse gases in areas in which we conduct business could have an adverse effect on our operations or demand for our products. Our manufacturing processes for our products use a significant amount of energy and, should energy prices increase as a result of such legislation or regulation, we may not be better able to withstand economic downturnspass these increased costs on to purchasers of our products. We cannot predict if or when currently proposed or additional laws and regulations regarding climate change or other environmental or health and safety concerns will be enacted or adopted.

The Company is also subject to income tax laws and regulations in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in evaluating and estimating our provision and accruals for these taxes. Our income tax liabilities are dependent upon the location of earnings among these different jurisdictions. Our income tax provision and income tax liabilities could be adversely affected by the jurisdictional mix of earnings, changes in valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities and changes in conditions withintax treaties, laws and regulations.

The Company is currently a party in various litigation matters and tax and environmental proceedings and faces risks arising from various unasserted litigation matters, including product liability, patent infringement, antitrust claims, and claims for third-party property damage or personal injury stemming from alleged torts, including, as discussed elsewhere in this Report, a number of cases seeking damages for alleged exposure to asbestos-contaminated talc products sold by the industriesCompany’s subsidiary Barretts Minerals Inc. Any failure to appropriately manage safety, human health, product liability and environmental risks associated with the Company’s products and production processes could adversely impact the Company’s employees and other stakeholders, the Company’s reputation, and its results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. Public perception of the risks associated with the Company’s products and production processes could impact product acceptance and influence the regulatory environment in which we operate and maythe Company operates. Any unanticipated liability arising out of a current matter or proceeding, or from the other risks described above, could have significantly greater operatinga material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations, cash flows and financial flexibility than we do.  We also face competition for somecondition.

The Company is dependent on the continued operation of its production facilities.  Production facilities are subject to hazards associated with the manufacturing, handling, storage, and transportation of chemical materials and products, including pipeline leaks and ruptures, explosions, fires, inclement weather and natural disasters, mechanical failure, unscheduled downtime, labor difficulties, transportation interruptions, and environmental risks. Production facilities are also subject to governmental requirements that may, and during the Covid-19 pandemic did, affect our ability to operate. We maintain property, business interruption and casualty insurance but such insurance may not cover all risks associated with the hazards of our business and is subject to limitations, including deductibles and maximum liabilities covered. We may incur losses beyond the limits, or outside the coverage, of our insurance policies. Further, from time to time, we may experience capacity limitations in our manufacturing operations. In addition, if we are unable to effectively forecast our customers’ demand, it could affect our ability to successfully manage operating capacity limitations. These hazards, limitations, disruptions in supply and capacity constraints could adversely affect financial results.

Our operations are becoming increasingly dependent on digital technologies and services. We use these technologies for internal purposes,activities important to our business, including data storage, processing,managing and transmissions, as well as inoperating our interactionsmanufacturing facilities, communications within our company and with customers and suppliers. Digitalsuppliers, maintaining accurate financial records, protecting confidential information, complying with regulatory, financial reporting, and legal requirements, and otherwise storing, processing and transmitting our data. Increased use of remote working arrangements has only increased our reliance on these technologies and services. Our business has in the past and could in the future be negatively affected by security incidents and systems disruptions. These disruptions or incidents may be caused by cyberattacks and other cyber incidents, network or power outages, software, equipment or telecommunications failures, the unintentional or malicious actions of employees or contractors, natural disasters, fires or other catastrophic events.

Although the cyber incidents that we have experienced to date have not had a material effect on our business, such incidents or disruptions could have a material adverse effect on us in the future. While we believe we devote significant resources to network security, disaster recovery, employee training and other measures to secure our information technology systems and prevent unauthorized access to or loss of data, there can be no guarantee that they will be adequate to safeguard against all cyber incidents, systems disruptions, or misuses of data. In addition, while we currently maintain insurance coverage that is intended to address costs associated with certain aspects of cyber incidents and information systems failures, this insurance coverage may not cover all losses or all types of claims that arise from an incident, or the damage to our reputation or brands that may result from an incident.

TableAnnual exploration and permitting activities target the replacement of Contentsthe number of tons mined to support the long-term sustainability of local operations.

The following table sets forth the amount ofCompany’s proven and probable reserves, such quarry or mine holds, based onas well as, the most recent mine plan, its usage rate in 2017, and a conversion factor for the conversion of in-situ materials to saleable products by major mineral category.minerals category at December 31, 2023.