renewaFUEL, LLC, a subsidiary of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF), today announced it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with FirstEnergy Generation Corp., an affiliate of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), under which renewaFUEL will design, build and operate a biomass facility that will produce renewable energy cubes for FirstEnergy's R.E. Burger Plant. The renewable energy cubes, when burned to produce electricity, result in a carbon neutral solution compared with burning fossil fuels such as thermal coal, natural gas or oil.

The R.E. Burger Plant, which is located in Belmont County, Ohio, employs 95 people. FirstEnergy Generation expects to use renewaFUEL's products in the plant's electricity generation process. The Burger Plant currently burns approximately 800,000 tons of thermal coal annually. Using renewaFUEL product in place of this coal would have the potential to eliminate 1.3 million tons of greenhouse gases per year, or the equivalent of removing an estimated 270,000 cars from the road.

About renewaFUEL, LLC

renewaFUEL, a majority-owned subsidiary of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., is a leading provider of renewable energy for industrial and institutional applications. The company engineers, aggregates and distributes renewable energy cubes, which have positive energy and greenhouse gas balances, producing more than 35 times the energy required to collect feedstock, process cubes and deliver the products for use.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This news release contains predictive statements that are intended to be made as "forward-looking" within the safe harbor protections of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although the Company believes that its forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are subject to risk and uncertainties.

Specifically, renewaFUEL has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding. Any definitive agreement to be entered into between renewaFUEL and FirstEnergy Generation Corp. will be subject to extensive negotiation and the possibility that no definitive agreement will ever be reached.

Reference is also made to the detailed explanation of the many factors and risks that may cause such predictive statements to turn out differently, set forth in the Company's Annual Report and Reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and previous news releases filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are publicly available on Cliffs Natural Resources' website. The information contained in this document speaks as of the date of this news release and may be superseded by subsequent events.

News releases and other information on the Company are available on the Internet at:
http://www.cliffsnaturalresources.com or
www.cliffsnaturalresources.com/Investors/Pages/default.aspx?b=1041&1=1

Cliffs Natural Resources
Steve Baisden, 216-694-5280
Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
steve.baisden@cliffsnr.com
or
Christine Dresch, 216-694-4052
Manager – Corporate Communications
christine.dresch@cliffsnr.com
OR
FirstEnergy Generation Corp.
Ellen Raines, 330-384-5808