Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. today announced the acquisition of United States Steel Corp.’s 15 percent equity interest in Marquette County’s Tilden Mining Co. for $105 million in cash.
Cliffs owned an 85 percent interest in the joint venture and now has complete ownership of the mine, following the transaction’s closing on Sept. 29.
With the acquisition’s completion, Cliffs has added 1.2 million long tons of annual pellet production capacity and 55 million long tons of proven and probable cruse ore reserves. Cliffs U.S. Iron Ore business segment’s expected pellet sales volume will increase to 20 million long tons in 2018 from an expected 19 million long tons this year.
“With the current strength in the Great Lakes iron ore pellet market and anticipated future demand from our HBI facility, acquiring additional pellet capacity became a top priority for Cliffs,” says Lourenco Goncalves, chairman, president, and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs. “We have managed Tilden since 1974 and acquiring the remaining interest of the mine became the most logical path to accomplishing this through a risk-free transaction.”
Located in Ishpeming, the Tilden Mine is an iron ore mining, concentrating, pelletizing, and railroad operation that employs approximately 900 workers.
