Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. Announces Acquisition of Real Estate Interests in Itasca County, Minnesota
December 11 2017 - 11:04AM
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.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171211005749/en/
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.MEDIA CONTACT:Patricia Persico,
216-694-5316Director, Corporate CommunicationsORINVESTOR
CONTACT:Paul Finan, 216-694-6544Director, Investor
Relations
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