Carrabba told more than 2500 delegates at Diggers & Dealers in Kalgoorlie that while global uncertainty and a slowdown in China were impacting on many mining companies around the world, Cliffs was not letting the subdued sentiment impact on its overall long-term growth plan.
“You have to think about the volatility; you can’t cast it aside but you have to underpin it with your own economic analysis and that’s what we’ve done,” he said.
“It starts with the financial strength of the company and a strong balance sheet and planned growth, which is what we have.”
For a company that is more than 160 years old, Carrabba said Cliffs had been successful in growing in size and expanding its foothold in coal and iron ore from the US to Canada and Australia.
Cliffs is the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America and is also a major supplier of direct shipping lump and fines iron ore from the Koolyanobbing and Cockatoo Island mines in Western Australia.
The producer also has metallurgical coal operations at six sites in Virginia and Alabama.
Cliffs’ move into Australia was achieved when in acquired Portman in 2005, and Carrabba said the company was continuing to reap the rewards of the acquisition.
“It’s been a nice cash generator for us, it’s been a real winner,” he said.
While the company recently announced it would divest its only coal interest in Australia, Carrabba said the move was not representative of its exit from the coal industry but rather signalled its intentions to focus on its coal assets in North America.
Cliffs’ growth strategies are already in full swing, with Carrabba admitting there was an internal expansion of its US metallurgical coal assets.
The company is also getting excited about a nickel discovery in British Colombia, Canada.
“The natural stainless steel iron formation has nickel and chrome scattered throughout it,” Carrabba said.
The deposit already has an estimated 1.2 billion tonnes of resources.
Over on the Asia-Pacific front, the company recently completed its expansion projects in the regions, which involved ramping up production at Koolyanobbing to 11 million tonnes per annum.
The bullish company remains on track to increase full-year 2012 Asia Pacific sales volumes to 11.6Mt, up from the initial 11.4Mt.
