| Cliffs Natural Resources Inc, formerly Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (Cliffs), is a producer of iron ore pellets in North America. The Company manages and operates six North American iron ore mines located in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada that have a rated capacity of 37 million tons of iron ore pellet production annually. On April 19, 2005, Cliffs Asia Pacific, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, completed the acquisition of 80.4 % of Portman, an iron ore mining company in Australia. As a result of the Portman acquisition, the Company operates in two segments: North America and Australia. The North America segment is comprised of its mining operations in the United States and Canada. The Australia segment is comprised of its 80.4 % Portman interest in Western Australia. During the year ended December 31, 2006, the Company produced a total of 33.6 million tons of iron ore pellets, including 20.8 million tons for its account and 12.8 million tons on behalf of steel company owners of the mines. |
