CLEVELAND -- (Business Wire)
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (“Cliffs” or the “Company”)
announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cleveland-Cliffs
Minnesota Land Development LLC, completed an acquisition of certain real
estate interests located in Itasca County west of Nashwauk, Minnesota
from Glacier Park Iron Ore Properties LLC (“GPIOP”). The interests
include a combination of undivided and whole fee interests as well as
mineral and surface leases, all lying within the Biwabik Iron Formation.
The acreage acquired is approximately 553 acres and the acreage being
leased is approximately 3,215 acres.
Cliffs expects to be able to leverage the acquired real estate interests
to develop a financially sustainable plan for the site, which may be
considered as other iron ore resources deplete. The purchased properties
include parcels that were formerly leased by GPIOP to Mesabi Metallics
Company LLC (“Mesabi Metallics”), formerly known as Essar Steel
Minnesota. Mesabi Metallics’ lease rights terminated on October 31, 2017
when it failed to exit bankruptcy in connection with Chippewa’s
inability to timely secure funding and other consents for its plan to
take Mesabi Metallics out of bankruptcy at that time.
Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer,
said, “We are enthused about the acquisition of this property, which
came into play after Chippewa failed to follow through on its obligation
to obtain financing and a bankruptcy exit for Mesabi Metallics by
October 31. Despite several botched attempts by others, it is now the
time for Cleveland-Cliffs to sit at the table with other responsible
parties and develop a realistic solution for this site.” Mr. Goncalves
added: “Cleveland-Cliffs has been in Minnesota for 115 years, and we
currently employ approximately 1,750 people in three separate mining and
pelletizing operations throughout the state. As the new owner of this
real estate, we know our responsibilities and will not disappoint the
people of Minnesota.”
About Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
Founded in 1847, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is the largest and oldest
independent iron ore mining company in the United States. We are a major
supplier of iron ore pellets to the North American steel industry from
our mines and pellet plants located in Michigan and Minnesota.
Additionally, we operate an iron ore mining complex in Western
Australia. By 2020, Cliffs expects to be the sole producer of hot
briquetted iron (HBI) in the Great Lakes region with the development of
its first production plant in Toledo, Ohio. Driven by the core values of
safety, social, environmental and capital stewardship, our employees
endeavor to provide all stakeholders with operating and financial
transparency. For more information, visit http://www.clevelandcliffs.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. As a
general matter, forward-looking statements relate to anticipated trends
and expectations rather than historical matters. Forward-looking
statements are subject to uncertainties and factors relating to Cliffs’
operations and business environment that are difficult to predict and
may be beyond our control. Such uncertainties and factors may cause
actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
the forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the
date of this release, and we undertake no ongoing obligation, other than
that imposed by law, to update these statements. Uncertainties and risk
factors that could affect Cliffs’ future performance and cause results
to differ from the forward-looking statements in this release include,
but are not limited to: uncertainty and weaknesses in global economic
conditions, including downward pressure on prices caused by oversupply
or imported products, the impact of any reduced barriers to trade, the
outcomes of recently filed and forthcoming trade cases, reduced market
demand and any change to the economic growth rate in China; continued
volatility of iron ore and steel prices and other trends, including the
supply approach of the major iron ore producers, affecting our financial
condition, results of operations or future prospects—specifically, the
impact of price-adjustment factors on our sales contracts; our level of
indebtedness could limit cash flow available to fund working capital,
capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes
or ongoing needs of our business; availability of capital and our
ability to maintain adequate liquidity; our ability to successfully
conclude the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) process in a
manner that minimizes cash outflows and associated liabilities; the
impact of our customers’ reducing their steel production due to
increased market share of steel produced using other methods or
lighter-weight steel alternatives; uncertainty relating to
restructurings in the steel industry and/or affecting the steel
industry; the outcome of any contractual disputes with our customers,
joint venture partners or significant energy, material or service
providers or any other litigation or arbitration; the ability of our
customers and joint venture partners to meet their obligations to us on
a timely basis or at all; problems or uncertainties with productivity,
tons mined, transportation, mine-closure obligations, environmental
liabilities, employee-benefit costs and other risks of the mining
industry; our ability to reach agreement with our customers regarding
any modifications to sales contract provisions, renewals or new
arrangements; our actual levels of capital spending; our ability to
successfully diversify our product mix and add new customers beyond our
traditional blast furnace clientele; our actual economic iron ore
reserves or reductions in current mineral estimates, including whether
any mineralized material qualifies as a reserve; our ability to
cost-effectively achieve planned production rates or levels, including
at our HBI production plant; our ability to successfully identify and
consummate any strategic investments or development projects, including
our HBI production plant; our ability to obtain the investments
necessary for our HBI production plant; changes in sales volume or mix;
events or circumstances that could impair or adversely impact the
viability of a mine and the carrying value of associated assets, as well
as any resulting impairment charges; our ability to maintain appropriate
relations with unions and employees; impacts of existing and increasing
governmental regulation and related costs and liabilities, including
failure to receive or maintain required operating and environmental
permits, approvals, modifications or other authorization of, or from,
any governmental or regulatory entity and costs related to implementing
improvements to ensure compliance with regulatory changes; uncertainties
associated with natural disasters, weather conditions, unanticipated
geological conditions, supply or price of energy, equipment failures and
other unexpected events; adverse changes in currency values, currency
exchange rates, interest rates and tax laws; risks related to
international operations; the potential existence of significant
deficiencies or material weaknesses in our internal control over
financial reporting; and our ability to complete our notes offerings on
terms that are commercially attractive to us or at all.
For additional factors affecting the business of Cliffs, refer to Part I
– Item 1A. Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2016. You are urged to carefully consider these risk
factors.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171211005749/en/
Contacts:
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Patricia Persico,
216-694-5316
Director, Corporate Communications
OR
INVESTOR
CONTACT:
Paul Finan, 216-694-6544
Director, Investor
Relations
Source: Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
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