Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., formerly Cliffs Natural Resources, is a

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

-based company that specializes in the

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

beneficiation In the mining industry or extractive metallurgy, beneficiation is any process that improves (benefits) the economic value of the ore by removing the gangue minerals, which results in a higher grade product (ore concentrate) and a waste stream ( ta ...

, and pelletizing of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

, as well as

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

making, including stamping and

tooling Tooling may refer to: * Machine tools and the tooling, such as cutting tools, fixtures, and accessories, that is used on them ** Cutting tool (machining), any of hundreds of kinds of cutters ** Fixture (tool), a fixed workholding or support device ...

. It is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America.

Operations

Cleveland-Cliffs manages and operates four

mines in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

and two mines in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, one of which, the Empire Mine, has been indefinitely idled. These mines produce various grades of iron ore pellets, including standard and fluxed, for use in

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheri ...

s as part of the steelmaking process as well as Direct Reduced (DR) grade pellets for use in Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) applications. Since the mines are located near the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

, the majority of the pellets are transported by rail to loading ports for shipments via vessel to steelmakers in North America. During 2020, 2019 and 2018, the company sold 12 million, 19 million and 21 million long tons of iron ore product, respectively, to third parties. The company operates a Hot-Briquetted Iron (HBI) facility in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnat ...

. HBI is a form of DRI that can be used as an alternative to scrap iron. When used as a feedstock, HBI can enable an

electric arc furnace An electric arc furnace (EAF) is a furnace that heats material by means of an electric arc. Industrial arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one-tonne capacity (used in foundries for producing cast iron products) up to ...

to produce more valuable grades of steel. It also operates three cokemaking facilities in

Monessen, Pennsylvania Monessen is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,876 at the 2020 census. In 1940, 20,257 people lived there. In 1990 the population was 13,026. Monessen is the southwestern-most municipality of Westmore ...

Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in Northeast Ohio, northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown, Ohio, Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39 ...

, and

Follansbee, West Virginia Follansbee is a city in Brooke County, West Virginia, United States, located along the Ohio River. The population was 2,853 at the 2020 census, a decrease from 2,986 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area ...

, with an annual capacity of 3.9 million tons, as well as a coal mine in

Princeton, West Virginia Princeton, is a city in and the county seat of Mercer County, West Virginia, Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The city is coined the "Heart of Mercer County" or the "Jewel of the South" in past decades. The population was 6,432 at the ...

The company operates many fully-integrated steel mills and finishing facilities in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

, and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

. It has annual production capacity of approximately 23 million net tons of raw steel.

History

19th century

The firm's earliest predecessor was the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, founded in 1847 and chartered as a company by

in 1850.

Samuel Mather Samuel Livingston Mather (July 13, 1851 – October 18, 1931) was an American industrialist and philanthropist from Cleveland, Ohio. He co-founded Pickands Mather and Company, a shipping and iron mining company which dominated these two Great ...

and six Ohio-based associates had learned of rich iron-ore deposits recently discovered in the highlands of the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

. Soon afterwards, the first

Soo Locks The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the low ...

opened in 1855, allowing iron ore to be shipped from

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also ha ...

. Technological improvements, such as the

Bessemer process The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation ...

, made it possible for the North American

to produce

on an industrial scale. The south shore of

was near a supply of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

, making that region an efficient point for the construction of steel mills. The company's request for government intervention quashed the Upper Peninsula miners' strike of 1865. In the late 1800s, the company expanded via acquisitions to gain

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those units would have a ...

. The former Cleveland Iron Mining Co. was a survivor of this shakeout, purchasing many of its competitors. One key merger in 1890, with Jeptha Wade's Cliffs Iron Company led the combined firm to change its name to the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company. The company invested substantially to improve the logistics of iron-ore transport. In 1892, the firm built the

Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad The Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad , is a U.S. railroad offering service from Marquette, Michigan, to nearby locations in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It began operations in 1896. The LS&I continues to operate as an independent railroad f ...

to carry iron ore from the mines directly to company-owned docks on

20th century

William G. Mather, the son of Samuel, guided Cleveland-Cliffs as president and later as chairman of the board from 1890 to 1947, participating in the transition from the hard-rock iron ore of Upper Michigan to the soft

hematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...

of Minnesota's Mesabi Range and adjacent lodes. Under Mather, Cleveland-Cliffs was a leader in the development of the classic-type

lake freighter Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Since the late 19th century, lakers have carried bulk cargoes of ma ...

, a bulk-cargo vessel especially designed to carry Great Lakes commodities. The SS William G. Mather, launched in 1925, is a surviving example of this ship type. For almost a century, the black-hulled Cleveland-Cliffs ships were familiar sights on the upper lakes. Demand for American iron ore hit peaks during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and the post-World War II consumer boom. In 1933, Edward Greene (the son-in-law of Jeptha Homer Wade II) replaced William G. Mather as the head of the company. The Mather A Mine opened in the early 1940s and the Mather B shaft in the 1950s. As the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

continued, reserves of mineable hematite dwindled in northern

and Cleveland-Cliffs returned some of its focus to its traditional areas of interest around the

Marquette Iron Range The Marquette Iron Range is a deposit of iron ore located in Marquette County, Michigan in the United States. The towns of Ishpeming and Negaunee developed as a result of mining this deposit. A smaller counterpart of Minnesota's Mesabi Range, t ...

, where new deposits of

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With ...

were opened. The first pellet plant was built at Eagle Mills in 1954, followed by the first grate/kiln plant at the Humboldt Mine in 1960. The Republic Mine was converted from a shaft mine to an open pit and concentrator in 1956 and a two-kiln pellet plant was added in 1962. The Empire Mine opened in 1963 and was expanded in the mid- and late-1970s; the Pioneer Pellet Plant was opened in 1965 to pelletize the underground ore from the Mather B Mine in

Negaunee, Michigan Negaunee ( or ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,568 at the 2010 census. The city is located at the southwest corner of Negaunee Township, which is administratively separate, in the Upper Pen ...

. In 1974, the Tilden Mine opened in

Ishpeming, Michigan Ishpeming ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,470 at the 2010 census, less than it was in the 1950s and 1960s when the iron ore mines employed more workers. A statue of a ...

. This mine was and is the only mine in the world with the ability to produce both hematite and magnetite pellets. In 1970, a high-grade iron-ore mine was opened at Pannawonica in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a g ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

, with a rail line to processing facilities at

Cape Lambert Cape Lambert is a port facility operated by Rio Tinto Iron Ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is located 40 kilometres north of Karratha.

for which the residential township of Wickham was built. A pellet plant was built but ceased operation before 1980, following a sharp increase in the cost of diesel fuel. During the 1970s, Cleveland-Cliffs had large interests in uranium and shale oil fields, as well as the oil and gas drilling industries. It also had holdings in the forest products industry. This interests were sold in the 1980s when the company refocused its efforts on its core iron ore business. After the recessions of 1974–1975 and 1981–1983, Cleveland-Cliffs shrank its operations, closing the Mather B Mine and the Pioneer Pellet Plant and associated Ore Improvement Plant in 1979. The Humboldt Pellet Plant closed in 1981 and the Republic Mine was idled in 1981 and closed for good in 1996, when Cliffs began turning the associated tailings ponds into compensatory wetlands for its other properties. Over half of the Marquette Iron Range employees were laid off and, in 1984, Cliffs withdrew from the Great Lakes shipping industry. In 1994, the company acquired Northshore Mining in

Silver Bay, Minnesota Silver Bay is a city in Lake County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,857 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the largest population center in a natural tourism area which includes, Tettegouche State Park and the Split Rock Lig ...

21st century

In 2001, the company cut its

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-i ...

by 73% due to low prices. In 2002, Ling-Temco-Vought, a partner in the Empire Mine managed by CCI, closed and the Empire Mine was idled for six months. President George W. Bush enacted the

2002 United States steel tariff On March 5, 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush placed tariffs on imported steel. The tariffs took effect March 20 and were lifted by Bush on December 4, 2003. Research shows that the tariffs were a net positive, reviving many previously shuttered ...

that greatly benefitted domestically-produced steel. Benefitting from the tariff, the company embarked upon a strategy to expand globally and to diversify into other minerals, leading to the acquisitions of iron-ore properties in Brazil, Canada and Australia and coal properties in Australia and the US. In 2003, the company, in a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with Laiwu Steel, purchased the assets of bankrupt Eveleth Mines and formed United Taconite. In 2008, it acquired the full ownership for $100 million in cash and 1,529,619 common shares. In June 2007, the company acquired PinnOak, its first domestic coal company, which mined coal in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

and

and once belonged to U.S. Steel. Due to its venture into coal, the company changed its name from Cleveland-Cliffs to Cliffs Natural Resources in October 2008. In 2008, the company agreed to acquire Alpha Natural Resources but called off the transaction in November 2008 due to the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of ...

. It paid a $70 million

breakup fee A breakup fee (sometimes called a termination fee) is a penalty set in takeover agreements, to be paid if the target backs out of a deal (usually because it has decided instead to accept a more attractive offer). The breakup fee is ostensibly to com ...

. In January 2010, the company acquired Freewest Resources Canada, giving it large chromite deposits in the Ring of Fire district in the

James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost p ...

Lowlands of Ontario, Canada, for $550 million. In 2015, it sold those assets for $20 million. In May 2011, the company acquired Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines from Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation for C$4.9 billion. The acquisition included Bloom Lake iron ore mine in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

. On May 5, 2011, the company was added to the

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

. Its ranking of 477 was based on the company's performance in 2010. The Burns Harbor Mill

in July 2013, CEO Joseph Carrabba announced that he would retire by December 31, 2013. Lead director James Kirsch was elected non-executive chairperson in his stead. Gary Halverson, formerly interim

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

Barrick Gold Barrick Gold Corporation is a mining company that produces gold and copper with 16 operating sites in 13 countries. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has mining operations in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Democra ...

, was appointed president and

in October 2013, and president and chief executive officer in February 2014. At the 2014 annual general meeting, six new directors nominated by activist

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as ...

Casablanca Capital were elected, giving the fund control of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

. Lourenco Goncalves was appointed chairman, president and CEO of the company. The reconstituted Board moved to shift the company's strategic objectives from global diversification to a renewed focus on strengthening its U.S. iron ore business. In December 2015, the company sold its remaining North American coal operations. Cliffs announced plans in early 2016 to close the Empire Mine near Marquette, Michigan, terminating the jobs of approximately 400 workers. The company announced on August 15, 2017 that it was returning to its former brand name, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. In August 2018, the company sold its Asia Pacific iron ore assets. It also sold its Australian assets. On March 13, 2020, the company acquired

AK Steel Holding AK Steel Holdings Corporation was a steelmaking company headquartered in West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio. The company, whose name was derived from the initials of Armco, its predecessor company, and Kawasaki Steel Corporation, was ...

for $1.1 billion. In December 2020, the company acquired the United States operations of

ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second ...

for approximately $1.4 billion, making it the largest producer of flat-rolled steel and iron ore pellets in North America. In February 2022, Cleveland-Cliffs agreed to pay a $3 million settlement related to Clean Water Act violations, including a cyanide and ammonia spill in August 2019 that killed thousands of fish and closed Lake Michigan beaches. After the settlement, Cleveland-Cliffs stated it would change its water testing and public announcement procedures.

Carbon footprint

Cleveland-Cliffs reported Total CO₂e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 32,200 Kt.Alt URL
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References

External links

{{Authority control Mining companies of the United States Companies based in Cleveland Steel companies of the United States Non-renewable resource companies established in 1847 American companies established in 1847 1847 establishments in Ohio Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Great Lakes Shipping Companies