Cliffs Natural Resources Announced Today That Regulatory Agencies Have Denied A Submitted Remediation Plan

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. CLF announced today that regulatory agencies have denied a submitted remediation plan designed to address detected levels of carbon monoxide at the Company's Pinnacle Mine in West Virginia. The plan would have allowed the Company to resume underground mining operations at its Pinnacle Mine in West Virginia which were stopped in late May due to the detected levels of carbon monoxide. As the Company evaluates various options, including an appeal of the regulatory agencies' decision to deny its remediation plan, Cliffs indicated that unless other options prove effective it does not expect underground operations to resume at Pinnacle Mine prior to the fourth quarter. Prior to this development, Cliffs had planned to produce over one million tons of low-volatile metallurgical coal from Pinnacle Mine in the last six months of 2011.