Cliffs Natural Resources reaches agreement to sell assets from discontinued renewaFUEL biomass production facility in Michigan to RNFL Acquisition for undisclosed amount

Lorena Madrigal

CLEVELAND , January 6, 2012 (press release) – Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) announced today that its majority owned affiliate has reached an agreement for the asset sale of its previously discontinued renewaFUEL biomass production facility in Michigan to RNFL Acquisition LLC, an acquisition entity created by an investor group that includes renewaFUEL's minority partners. Under the terms of the final sale agreement, RNFL Acquisition LLC is purchasing the assets and the existing inventory as well as assuming the building lease for the production facility. As part of the transaction, the renewaFUEL brand will also be transferred to RNFL Acquisition LLC.

In September 2011, Cliffs announced plans to seek a potential buyer and idle the renewaFUEL operations. At that time, Cliffs stated it is focused on expanding its portfolio of steelmaking raw material assets within its core mining business.

The facility, located at the Telkite Technology Park near Sawyer International Airport in Marquette, Mich., was constructed to produce high-energy, low-emission biofuel cubes from sustainably collected wood and agricultural feed stocks. RNFL Acquisition LLC intends to operate the biomass facility in its current location.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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, the Company is a major global iron ore producer and a significant producer of high- and low-volatile metallurgical coal. Cliffs' strategy is to continually achieve greater scale and diversification in the mining industry through a focus on serving the world's largest and fastest growing steel markets. Driven by the core values of social, environmental and capital stewardship, Cliffs associates across the globe endeavor to provide all stakeholders operating and financial transparency.

The Company is organized through a global commercial group responsible for sales and delivery of Cliffs products and a global operations group responsible for the production of the minerals the Company markets. Cliffs operates iron ore and coal mines in North America and two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia. The Company also has a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine in Queensland, Australia. In addition, Cliffs has a major chromite project, in the pre-feasibility stage of development, located in Ontario, Canada.
News releases and other information on the Company are available on the Internet at: http://www.cliffsnaturalresources.com

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