Longwall Plow Currently Progressing through Geologic Fault, Company
Anticipates 100,000 Ton Impact Per 30 Days of Mining in Fault Area

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE: CLF) today announced its Cliffs North American Coal, LLC subsidiary has declared force majeure on coal shipments from its Pinnacle Mine in Pineville, W. Va. Cliffs indicated the longwall plow is currently mining through a sandstone intrusion into the coal seam, which has caused coal production at the mine to significantly slow, as well as reduced shipments.

The sandstone intrusion is a continuation of the same geology that slowed production at Pinnacle Mine in August 2007.

Joseph A. Carrabba, Cliffs’ chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, “As always, safety of employees is our first priority. While disappointed to find the same geologic condition in the current section of the mine as the previous section, the discovery provides useful information on the fault direction and slope for use in our mine planning for the rest of 2008 and the future. We estimate that we are currently 25 percent through the fault area and our North American Coal team is diligently working to move the plow forward through this difficult mining. At this time, we believe we will be in difficult mining for 60 to 90 days.”

The Company said the fault area accounts for approximately 1,200 feet of the approximately 10,000-foot coal section being mined and that the longwall plow has progressed approximately 300 feet since first encountering the area in mid-March. Cliffs also indicated that prior to encountering the adverse geologic conditions it had already begun development on the next coal section in its mine plan and expects to avoid similar conditions in this next section.

As a result of the current mining conditions at Pinnacle Mine, Cliffs said its total metallurgical coal production forecast for 2008 will be impacted by approximately 100,000 tons for every 30 days of mining in the fault area.

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Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is an international mining company, the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America and a major supplier of metallurgical coal to the global steelmaking industry. The Company operates six iron ore mines in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada, and three coking coal mines in West Virginia and Alabama.