The bulk of that came from the company’s iron ore operations. The good news was that its coal business had turned around.

In January, the company announced it would take a $1 billion charge because it expected less production and greater costs from Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines, which it bought in 2011.

The company has slashed its quarterly dividend and said it will sell 20 million depositary shares and 9 million shares of common stock to “repay borrowings outstanding under its term loan facility”, the company said in a statement.

Cliffs lost $1.62 billion, or $11.36 per share, in Q4. A year ago it reported net income of $185.4 million, or $1.30 per share. Revenue fell 4% to $1.54 billion.

For all of 2012, Cliffs lost $899.4 million, or $6.32 per share. The company posted a profit of $1.62 billion, or $11.48 per share, in 2011. Revenue fell 11% to $5.87 billion.

Cliffs' chairman, president and chief executive officer Joseph Carrabba said "while 2012 had some noteworthy highlights, including the operational turnaround of North American Coal and record sales volumes in Australia, the year proved to be challenging both from a market perspective and operationally”

“Unfortunately, our ramp up of Bloom Lake Mine has been slower than originally anticipated, resulting in decreased volumes and increased costs. Despite these challenges, we continue to make progress on the mine's production stability, development, and tailings management,” he said in a statement

“We believe this will ensure a smooth transition for Bloom Lake's Phase II production startup next year. Bloom Lake is on track to achieve an annual production run rate of 14 million tons by 2015, which accounts for more than a quarter of Cliffs' current total iron ore volume."