PALMER - Cliffs Natural Resources has announced its projections for capital investments for 2012, including $60 million to be spent at the Empire Mine, one of two mines the company operates in Michigan.
The Empire investment, which will go toward the purchase of mining equipment, will allow the mine to operate at an annualized rate of 3 million tons, depending on market conditions, said Dale Hemmila, director of Public Affairs for Cliffs in North America.
"We have capacity greater than that, but it depends on the market conditions," Hemmila said. "We've earmarked the capital that takes us through 2015."
As far as extending the life of the mine beyond 2015, Hemmila said the company is currently looking at other options.
Separate from extending the life of the Empire Mine is the previously announced iron nugget project, which would use ore from both the Empire and Tilden mines to create iron nuggets, which have a higher concentration of iron and can be used in electric blast furnaces. Hemmila said the company is still evaluating the project and has not made a decision whether to move forward with it.
The company announced a $1 billion investment Cliffs plans to make in operations throughout 2012, including $300 million of sustaining capital and $700 million of growth and productivity-improvement capital.
The 2012 capital budget is a 12 percent increase over the 2011 capital expenditures, which totaled approximately $880 million.
In addition to the investment at the Empire Mine, Cliffs plans to invest in its Eastern Canadian Iron Ore operations, Asia Pacific Iron ore, North American Coal and in its chromite project in northern Ontario.
Johanna Boyle can be reached at 906-486-4401.
