Cliffs Natural Resources to Halt Development of Chromite Project Indefinitely

Cliffs Natural Resources

announced today that its affiliate, Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc., will suspend indefinitely its Chromite Project in Northern Ontario by the end of the fourth quarter of 2013. The Company determined that it will not allocate additional capital for the project given the uncertain timeline and risks associated with the development of necessary infrastructure to bring this project online. In June of this year, Cliffs suspended the environmental assessment activities because of pending issues impeding the progress of the project. "We continue to believe in the value of the mineral deposits and the potential of the Ring of Fire region for Northern Ontario.  As we've assessed the current challenges in the region and the costs to continue on the current path, we decided to suspend the Chromite Project indefinitely," said Bill Boor, senior vice president, strategy & business development. "Unfortunately, we will reduce the project team staffing and close our Thunder Bay and Toronto offices as well as the exploration camp site. We understand this is a hardship for our employees and