Empire Mine Gets Safety Award

Ishpeming, MI—May 1, 2012 —Cliffs Natural Resources, (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) announced today that its Michigan Operations’ Empire Mine processing plant has received a Sentinels of Safety Certificate of Achievement in Safety in the large metal nonmetal mill group.  The award covers the 2010 statistical period.  Due to verification procedures by MSHA and the National Mining Association, Cliffs did not receive the 2010 award until April of this year.  

 

The Sentinels of Safety awards are presented annually by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the National Mining Association to recognize achievement for outstanding safety records and is considered the most prestigious safety award in the mining industry.

 

The Empire processing plant qualified for the award by working 816,033 employee hours in 2010 without experiencing a work injury that resulted in a fatality, permanent disability, days away from work, or days of restricted work activity.  This is the first Sentinels of Safety award received by Cliffs Michigan Operations.  

 

“This is a tremendous honor for our employees,” said James Kochevar, interim general manager, Michigan Operations for Cliffs.  “Safety is the number one core value at all Cliffs operations. The Empire plant employees’ attention to safe work procedures and personal safety is a reflection of that core value.  The men and women who work every day in the Empire plant should be very proud of their achievement.”