Cliffs Closes Wabush Acquisition

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) has announced that it has completed the acquisition of its former partners’ interests in the Wabush Mines joint venture for approximately $88 million.

Cliffs announced in October 2009 that it would exercise its right of first refusal to acquire U.S. Steel Canada’s 44.6% interest and ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s 28.6% interest. With the closing of the acquisition, Cliffs now owns 100% of the operation that it has managed since 1965. The Wabush Mines operation includes the Scully Iron Ore Mine near Wabush, Newfoundland, Labrador; the pellet plant and port facilities at Point Noire, Quebec; and integrated rail facilities.

With this transaction, Cliffs adds more than 50 million tons of iron ore reserves and approximately four million tons of incremental iron ore pellet production capacity with access to the seaborne market.

About Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. is an international mining and natural resources company. A member of the S&P 500 Index, we are the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America, a major supplier of direct-shipping lump and fines iron ore out of Australia and a significant producer of metallurgical coal. With core values of environmental and capital stewardship, our colleagues across the globe endeavor to provide all stakeholders operating and financial transparency as embodied in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. Our Company is organized through three geographic business units.

The North American business unit is comprised of six iron ore mines owned or managed in Michigan, Minnesota and Canada and two coking coal mining complexes located in West Virginia and Alabama. The Asia Pacific business unit is comprised of two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia and a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine in Queensland, Australia. The Latin American business unit includes a 30% interest in the Amapa Project, an iron ore project in the state of Amapa in Brazil.

Other projects under development include a biomass fuel production plant in Michigan and Ring of Fire chromite properties in Ontario, Canada. Over recent years, Cliffs has been executing a strategy designed to achieve scale in the mining industry and focused on serving the world’s largest and fastest growing steel markets.

Posted Feb. 03.10

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