Cliffs buys U.S. Steel out of Michigan mine

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. this week announced it was acquiring U.S. Steel’s 15 percent stake in the Tilden iron ore mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The $105 million purchase gives Cliffs 100 percent ownership of the operation. The company reported the transaction closed on Friday.
“With the current strength in the Great Lakes iron ore pellet market and anticipated future demand from our (hot-briquette iron) facility, acquiring additional pellet capacity became a top priority for Cliffs,” CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in a statement.
The Tilden mine and pellet plant is located near Ishpeming, Mich., and employs about 900 people. Cliffs’ other Michigan operation, the nearby Empire Mine, closed for good earlier this year.