Acquires Additional Shares of Freewest Resources Canada Inc. Pursuant to a Private Placement

bwire




CLEVELAND (Business Wire) -- Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) announced
today that 7280831 Canada Inc., its indirect wholly owned subsidiary,
has acquired by way of private placement 6,908,440 common shares of
Montreal-based Freewest Resources Canada Inc. (TSX-V: FWR), at a
price of $0.60 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of
CDN$4,145,064.




Prior to the completion of the private placement, Cliffs indirectly
owned and exercised control over 14,750,000 common shares of Freewest,
or approximately 6.86% of the 215,125,039 issued and outstanding common
shares of Freewest, and 7,375,000 common share purchase warrants, which,
upon exercise, would have increased Cliffs' indirect percentage holding
of common shares of Freewest to 9.62%. As a result of the private
placement, Cliffs indirectly owns and exercises control over 21,658,440
common shares of Freewest, or approximately 9.75% of the 222,033,479
issued and outstanding common shares of Freewest, and 7,375,000 common
share purchase warrants, which, upon exercise, would increase Cliffs'
indirect percentage holding of common shares of Freewest to 12.66%.




Cliffs, through 7280831 Canada Inc., acquired the common shares in order
to fund Freewest's working capital needs and the continuing work on
Freewest's 100%-owned McFaulds property. Subject to restrictions under
applicable law, Cliffs may in the future acquire or dispose of
additional securities of Freewest depending on factors such as the
completion of the proposed plan of arrangement with Freewest announced
by Cliffs on November 23, and future market conditions.




About Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.




Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is an
international mining and natural resources company. Cliffs is the
largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America, a major supplier
of direct-shipping lump and fines iron ore out of Australia and a
significant producer of metallurgical coal. With core values of
environmental and capital stewardship, the Company's colleagues across
the globe endeavor to provide all stakeholders operating and financial
transparency as embodied in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
framework.




The Company is organized through three geographic business units: The
North American business unit is comprised of six iron ore mines owned or
managed in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada, and two coking coal
mining complexes located in West Virginia and Alabama. The Asia Pacific
business unit is comprised of two iron ore mining complexes in Western
Australia and a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine
in Queensland, Australia. The South American business unit includes a
30% interest in the Amapa Project, an iron ore project in the state of
Amapa in Brazil.




Over recent years, Cliffs has been executing a strategy designed to
achieve scale in the mining industry and focused on serving the world's
largest and fastest growing steel markets.




News releases and other information on the Company are available on the
Internet at:http://www.cliffsnaturalresources.com