Thomson Reuters






(Adds analyst comment, updates shares)


Dec 3 (Reuters) - Cliffs Natural Resources Inc said
it expects to record a pretax loss of $375 million to $425
million on the sale of its Logan County coal assets in West
Virginia in the fourth quarter.


The miner's shares rose as much as 6 percent in early
trading after the company said it will continue to explore sale
options for other coal assets amid lower prices.


"With remaining assets still on the table, we expect
additional transactions to take place going forward, which
should provide additional cash inflows over the coming
quarters," FBR Capital Markets & Co analyst Mitesh Thakkar said.


In July, Cliffs lost a proxy battle to hedge fund Casablanca
Capital, which urged the company to spin off its international
operations, form a master limited partnership from its U.S.
assets and sell non-core assets.


Cliffs said in November that it was looking to exit its
Canadian iron ore operations and that the company may seek
creditor protection to shield itself from closure costs and
liabilities costs at its Canadian operations.


The company said on Wednesday it will sell the Logan County
assets to Coronado Coal II LLC for $175 million in cash along
with the assumption of certain liabilities.


Brean Capital LLC analyst Lucas Pipes said the deal was
"incrementally positive." Cliffs has said its coal business
would be EBITDA breakeven in this environment and the assets
sold include lower quality coal, he wrote in a note to clients.


The brokerage also raised its price target by $1 to $5.


Coal prices have halved over the last three years, while
iron ore prices have declined more than 40 percent this year
alone due to excess supplies and lower steel demand in China.


Deutsche Bank Securities acted as financial adviser and Hahn
Loeser & Parks LLP acted as legal adviser to Cliffs Natural on
the sale of its West Virginia assets.


Cliffs shares were up 3.5 percent at 8.45 on the New York
Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Up to Tuesday's close, the stock
had lost 69 percent this year.

(Reporting by Sneha Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Don
Sebastian)