TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – US iron-ore and coal producer Cliffs Natural Resources has decided to sell its North American coal segment, saying the business had become noncore and nonstrategic for the firm.
Under new management, following a proxy contest last year, the Cleveland-based miner was in the process of unbundling its noncore assets through the recent sale of its chromite prospects in Northern Ontario. It also filed for creditor protection for its Canadian arm in January to try and isolate losses and protect shareholders from the vast majority of the $650-million to $700-million in closure costs tied to its mothballed Bloom Lake assets.
For the first quarter ended March 31, Cliffs reported a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $772.6-million, or $4.26 a share, much wider than the $83.1-million, or $0.54 a share, loss reported in the comparable quarter of 2014.
Consolidated revenues fell 28% to $446-million from the previous year's first-quarter revenues of $616-million.
The company noted that the first-quarter results took into account the impact of the North American Coal and the Canadian businesses being treated as discontinued operations.