Cliffs to Sell Discontinued renewaFUEL Biomass Plant
01/06/2012 - Cliffs Natural Resources has reached agreement for the asset sale of its renewaFUEL biomass production facility to RNFL Acquisition LLC, an acquisition entity created by an investor group that includes renewaFUEL's minority partners.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. has reached agreement for the asset sale of its previously discontinued renewaFUEL biomass production facility in Michigan. The facility will be sold to RNFL Acquisition LLC, an acquisition entity created by an investor group that includes renewaFUEL's minority partners. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The facility, located at the Telkite Technology Park near Sawyer International Airport in Marquette, Mich., was constructed to produce high-energy, low-emission biofuel cubes from sustainably collected wood and agricultural feed stocks.
Under terms of the final sale agreement, RNFL Acquisition LLC is purchasing the assets and the existing inventory while also assuming the building lease for the production facility. As part of the transaction, Cliffs also will transfer the renewaFUEL brand to RNFL Acquisition LLC. RNFL Acquisition LLC intends to operate the biomass facility in its current location.
Cliffs had announced plans in September 2011 to idle the renewaFUEL operations and seek a potential buyer. At that time, Cliffs stated it would continue to focus on expanding its portfolio of steelmaking raw material assets within its core mining business.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., an international mining and natural resources company, is a major global iron ore producer and a significant producer of high- and low-volatile metallurgical coal. Cliffs' strategy is to continually achieve greater scale and diversification in the mining industry through a focus on serving the world's largest and fastest growing steel markets.
The company is organized through a global commercial group responsible for sales and delivery of Cliffs products and a global operations group responsible for the production of the minerals the company markets. Cliffs operates iron ore and coal mines in North America and two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia. The company also has a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine in Queensland, Australia, and a major chromite project, in the pre-feasibility stage of development, located in Ontario, Canada.
