Cleveland-Cliffs

Since the mines are located near the Great Lakes, the majority of the pellets are transported by rail to loading ports for shipments via vessel to steelmakers in North America.[3] It also operates three coke-making facilities in Burns Harbor, Indiana, Monessen, Pennsylvania, and Warren, Ohio, with an annual capacity of 2.6 million tons, as well as a coal mine in Princeton, West Virginia.[3] The company operates many fully-integrated steel mills and finishing facilities in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and North Carolina.[4][5] Samuel Mather and six Ohio-based associates had learned of rich iron-ore deposits recently discovered in the highlands of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.[6] Technological improvements, such as the Bessemer process, made it possible for mills in the North American Great Lakes region to produce steel on an industrial scale.The south shore of Lake Erie was near a supply of coal, making that region an efficient point for the construction of steel mills.[9] William G. Mather, the son of Samuel, guided Cleveland-Cliffs as president and later as chairman of the board from 1890 to 1947, participating in the transition from the hard-rock iron ore of Upper Michigan to the soft hematite of Minnesota's Mesabi Range and adjacent lodes.In 1950, the company celebrated its 100th anniversary with the publication of a commemorative book, A Century of Iron Men, by Harlan Hatcher, VP of the Ohio State University.[19] As the Cold War continued, reserves of mineable hematite dwindled in northern Minnesota and Cleveland-Cliffs returned some of its focus to its traditional areas of interest around the Marquette Iron Range, where new deposits of magnetite were opened.[20] In 1970, a high-grade iron-ore mine was opened at Pannawonica in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with a 200 km (120 mi) rail line to processing facilities at Cape Lambert for which the residential township of Wickham was built.[20] In 2003, the company, in a joint venture with Laiwu Steel, purchased the assets of bankrupt Eveleth Mines and formed United Taconite LLC.[39] The reconstituted Board moved to shift the company's strategic objectives from global diversification to a renewed focus on strengthening its U.S. iron ore business.[45][46][47] In December 2020, the company acquired the United States operations of ArcelorMittal for approximately $1.4 billion, making it the largest producer of flat-rolled steel and iron ore pellets in North America.[48][49][50] In February 2022, Cleveland-Cliffs agreed to pay a $3 million settlement related to Clean Water Act violations, including a cyanide and ammonia spill in August 2019 that killed thousands of fish and closed Lake Michigan beaches.[51] On July 28, 2023, Cleveland-Cliffs executives sent a proposal to U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt, to acquire the company for a total enterprise value of $10 billion, in a cash and stock deal.