Notes to Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

NOTE 1 - BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with SEC rules and regulations and, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly, the financial position, results of operations, comprehensive income and cash flows for the periods presented. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Management bases its estimates on various assumptions and historical experience, which are believed to be reasonable; however, due to the inherent nature of estimates, actual results may differ significantly due to changed conditions or assumptions. The results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the year ended December 31, 2013 or any other future period. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 .

Basis of Consolidation

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of our wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries, including the following operations:

Intercompany transactions and balances are eliminated upon consolidation.

Also included in our consolidated results are Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc. and Cliffs Chromite Far North Inc. Cliffs Chromite Ontario, Inc. holds a 100 percent interest in each of the Black Label and Black Thor chromite deposits and, together with Cliffs Chromite Far North Inc., a 70 percent interest in the Big Daddy chromite deposit, all located in northern Ontario, Canada.

                                         

¹ At December 31, 2012 the classification for Hibbing was Other liabilities.

² At December 31, 2012 our ownership interest percentage for Cockatoo was 50 percent.

Amapá

On December 27, 2012, our board of directors authorized the sale of our 30 percent interest in Amapá. Together with Anglo American plc, we will be selling our respective interest in a 100 percent sale transaction to a single entity. On March 28, 2013, an unknown event caused the Santana port shiploader to collapse into the Amazon River, preventing further ship loading by the mine operator, Anglo American. The investigation into the root cause of the collapse is ongoing as Anglo American develops a business continuation plan. The previously announced sale transaction remains in place, but without a projected closing date until the port situation is clarified.

In light of the March 28, 2013 collapse of the Santana port shiploader and subsequent discussions with Anglo American plc, we have evaluated the carrying value of our investment in Amapá as of June 30, 2013 and do not expect to recover the amounts previously recorded in our financial statements, resulting in an impairment charge of $67.6 million in the second quarter of 2013.

Cockatoo Island

On July 31, 2012, we entered into a definitive asset sale agreement with our joint venture partner, HWE Cockatoo Pty Ltd., to sell our beneficial interest in the mining tenements and certain infrastructure of Cockatoo Island to Pluton Resources, which was amended on August 31, 2012. On September 7, 2012, the closing date, Pluton Resources paid as consideration under the asset sale agreement, a nominal sum of AUD $4.00 and assumed ownership of the assets and responsibility for the environmental rehabilitation obligations and other assumed liabilities not inherently attached to the tenements acquired. The rehabilitation obligations and assumed liabilities that are inherently attached to the tenements were transferred to Pluton Resources upon registration by the Department of Mining and Petroleum denoting Pluton Resources as the tenement holder. Final settlement of the sale was completed during the second quarter of 2013. We transferred approximately $18.6 million relating to the estimated cost of the rehabilitation, upon final settlement of the sale.

Discontinued Operations

On July 10, 2012, we entered into a definitive share and asset sale agreement to sell our 45 percent economic interest in the Sonoma joint venture coal mine located in Queensland, Australia. Upon completion of the transaction on November 12, 2012, we collected approximately AUD $141.0 million in net cash proceeds. The Sonoma operations previously were included in Other within our reportable segments.

Significant Accounting Policies

A detailed description of our significant accounting policies can be found in the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 , included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. The significant accounting policies requiring updates have been included within the disclosures below.

Other Intangible Assets and Liabilities

Other intangible assets are subject to periodic amortization on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives or on a units of production basis as follows:

Earnings Per Share

We present both basic and diluted earnings per share amounts. Basic earnings per share amounts are calculated by dividing Net Income Attributable to Cliffs Shareholders less any paid or declared but unpaid dividends on our depositary shares by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period presented. Diluted earnings per share amounts are calculated by dividing Net Income Attributable to Cliffs Shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares, common share equivalents under stock plans using the treasury stock method and the number of common shares that would be issued under an assumed conversion of our outstanding depositary shares, each representing a 1/40th interest in a share of our Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock, Class A, under the if-converted method. Our outstanding depositary shares are convertible into common shares based on the volume weighted average of closing prices of our common stock over the 20 consecutive trading day period ending on the third day immediately preceding the end of the reporting period. Common share equivalents are excluded from EPS computations in the periods in which they have an anti-dilutive effect. See NOTE 18 - EARNINGS PER SHARE for further information.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2013, the FASB amended the guidance on the presentation of comprehensive income in order to improve the reporting of reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income. The amendment does not change the current requirements for reporting net income or other comprehensive income in financial statements. Rather, it requires the entity to present, either on the face of the statement where net income is presented or in the notes, significant amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by the respective line items of net income but only if the amount being reclassified is required under GAAP to be reclassified in its entirety to net income in the same reporting period. For other amounts that are not required under GAAP to be reclassified in their entirety to net income, an entity is required to cross-reference to other disclosures required under GAAP that provide additional detail about those amounts. The new guidance was applied prospectively for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2012. We adopted the provisions of guidance required for the period beginning January 1, 2013. Refer to NOTE 16 - SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY for further information.

NOTE 2 - SEGMENT REPORTING

Our Company’s primary operations are organized and managed according to product category and geographic location: U.S. Iron Ore, Eastern Canadian Iron Ore, Asia Pacific Iron Ore, North American Coal, Latin American Iron Ore, Ferroalloys and our Global Exploration Group. The U.S. Iron Ore segment is comprised of our interests in five U.S. mines that provide iron ore to the integrated steel industry. The Eastern Canadian Iron Ore segment is comprised of two Eastern Canadian mines that primarily provide iron ore to the seaborne market for Asian steel producers. The Asia Pacific Iron Ore segment is located in Western Australia and provides iron ore to the seaborne market for Asian steel producers. The North American Coal segment is comprised of our five metallurgical coal mines and one thermal coal mine that provide metallurgical coal primarily to the integrated steel industry and thermal coal primarily to the energy industry. There are no intersegment revenues.

The Latin American Iron Ore operating segment is comprised of our 30 percent Amapá interest in Brazil. The Ferroalloys operating segment is comprised of our interests in chromite deposits held in Northern Ontario, Canada and the Global Exploration Group is focused on early involvement in exploration activities to identify new projects for future development or projects that add significant value to existing operations. The Latin American Iron Ore, Ferroalloys and Global Exploration Group operating segments do not meet reportable segment disclosure requirements and, therefore, are not reported separately.

We evaluate segment performance based on sales margin, defined as revenues less cost of goods sold, and operating expenses identifiable to each segment. This measure of operating performance is an effective measurement as we focus on reducing production costs throughout the Company.

The following table presents a summary of our reportable segments for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012 , including a reconciliation of segment sales margin to Income from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes and Equity Loss from Ventures :