Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s Board of Directors announced that energy executive Susan M. Cunningham has been elected a director of the company, filling the final vacancy created by the retirement of two directors who did not stand for reelection at its Annual Meeting of Shareholders in May 2005. Her election brings the number of Board members to 11.

Cunningham is currently Senior Vice President of Exploration at Noble Energy Inc. in Houston, Texas, with responsibility for exploration and reserves across the company's two exploration and production divisions: Domestic and International, including China and Argentina.

Commenting on the election, Cliffs' Chairman and CEO John Brinzo said, "We are fortunate to have attracted someone of Susan's caliber and pleased to welcome her to the Cliffs' Board. Susan's technical and leadership skills will contribute to the advancement of our strategic objectives as we continually strive to increase the value of our company for our shareholders."

Cunningham began her career as an exploration geologist for Amoco Canada in 1980. Upon relocating to Houston, Texas, the following year, she advanced through increasingly responsible domestic and international field and management assignments until being named Managing Director of its Amoco Denmark and Sweden operations, located in Copenhagen, in 1992. Two years later, she returned to the U.S. as Exploration Manager— Deepwater, Gulf of Mexico.

Cunningham joined Statoil in 1997 as Exploration Manager, was promoted to Vice President reporting to the President of Statoil Exploration (U.S.) in 1998, and became West Africa Exploration Manager at the company's headquarters in Stavanger, Norway, from 1999 to 2000.

Prior to joining Noble Energy in 2001, Cunningham was Vice President Worldwide Exploration for Texaco in Houston, Texas, where she initiated an exploration organization improvement process aimed at improving collaboration between the various organization units, decreasing costs and leveraging intellectual capital as part of the company's "Focus Exploration" program.

Cunningham earned her bachelor's degree in Geology and Geography from McMaster University, Ont., Canada, in 1979 and is a 1995 graduate of Rice University's Executive Management Program. She is a past member of the board for the Houston Area Women's Center and the Houston Geologic Society, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Offshore Technology Center (OTC).

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America, selling the majority of its pellets to integrated steel companies in the United States and Canada. Cleveland-Cliffs operates a total of six iron ore mines located in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada. The company is majority owner of Portman Limited, the third-largest iron ore mining company in Australia, serving the Asian iron ore markets with direct-shipping fines and lump ore.