2012 - 2013 DRILL REPORT CLIFFS CHROMITE PROPERTY JAMES BAY LOWLANDS NORTHERN ONTARIO LATITUDE 52º78’ N, LONGITUDE -86º20’ PORCUPINE MINING DIVISION AREA BMA 527 861 G-4306 January, 2014 By: Ryan Weston, P.Geo David Shinkle, P.Geo Bryan Maciag, G.I.T. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. Introduction 1 2. Property Description, Ownership and Access 2 3. Exploration History 7 4. Regional Geology 8 5. Property Geology 12 6. Chromite Mineralization 14 7. 2012-2013 Drill Results 21 8. Conclusions and Recommendations 33 9. References 35 10. Signature Page 37 LIST OF FIGURES Page 1. Location of the Cliffs Chromite property 4 2. Claim map of the Ring of Fire 5 3. Claim map of the Cliffs Chromite property 6 4. Geological map of the Canadian Superior Province 10 5. Regional geology map of the Ring of Fire 11 6. Cliffs Chromite Property Geology 15 7. Chromite textures of the BTCD 16 8. Chromite textures of the BLCD 16 9. Stratigraphic column of the BTIC 17 10. Generalized geological schematic of the Cliffs chromite property 18 11. Cross section along section 1100N in the southwest domain of the BTCD 19 12. Cross section along section 2100N in the central domain of the BTCD 19 13. Cross section along section 2900N in the northeast and faulted domains of the 20 BTCD LIST OF TABLES Page 1. Claim status of the Cliffs chromite property 2 2. Collar locations of the 2012-2013 Cliffs Chromite drill holes 21-22 3. 2012 high-grade chromite intersections from the BLCD 23-24 4. 2012 high-grade chromite intersections from the BTCD 25-28 5. 2013 high-grade chromite intersections from the BLCD 30 6. 2013 visual estimates of high-grade chromite intersections from the BTCD 32-33 APPENDICES A. Geological Map and Cross-sections B. Drill Logs C. Assay Certificates 1. INTRODUCTION This report provides a summary of the diamond drilling programs conducted during 2012 and 2013 by Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc. on the Cliffs Chromite property in the McFaulds Lake area of the James Bay Lowlands in Northern Ontario. Five separate drill programs were conducted and include: 1. Black Thor chromite delineation drilling program conducted from July 15 to November 9, 2012 2. Shallow geotechnical drilling program conducted from August 23 to September 21, 2012 3. Black Label chromite delineation drilling program conducted from January 26 to February 25, 2013 4. Shallow geotechnical drilling program conducted from March 4 to March 6, 2013 5. Deep geotechnical drilling program conducted from August 18 to October 23, 2013 The first program was predominantly designed to test the continuity of Black Thor chromite mineralization at depth between sections 1200N to 2000N referred to as “the saddle” area (BT- 12 series holes). Additionally two holes were drilled into the geologic hangingwall to better characterize waste rock lithologies, and five oriented holes were drilled to collect geomechanical and structural data within the limits of the proposed pit (GT-12 series holes). All drilling was performed by Orbit Drilling using two rigs. In total, 15,809m was drilled in 34 holes. The second program was designed to collect geotechnical information from the overburden and shallow bedrock around the property (BH12M series holes). All drilling was performed by Walker Drilling. A total of 242m was drilled in 9 holes. The third program was predominantly designed to fill in gaps in the Black Label drill database with the specific aim of increasing the resource size and/or improving the resource classification (BT-13 series holes). A single oriented geomechanical hole was drilled to finish the program started in 2012 under the first program (GT-13-13). All drilling was performed by Orbit Drilling. A total of 2,082m was drilled in 8 holes. The fourth program was designed to collect geotechnical and geological information from the overburden and shallow bedrock in and around an area of possible quarry material (BH-13M series holes). All drilling was performed by Orbit Drilling. A total 235m was drilled in 9 holes. The fifth program was designed to collect geomechanical and structural data from deep oriented drill holes beneath the proposed open pit for the purpose of an underground mining scoping study (GT-13 series holes). All drilling was performed by Cyr Drilling using one drill rig. In total 3,461m was drilled in 5 holes. 2012-2013 Drill Report – Cliffs Chromite Project Page - 1 - 2. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION, OWNERSHIP and ACCESS The Cliffs chromite property is wholly owned (100%) by Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc., which is a fully owned subsidiary of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. The property is located approximately 250km north of the town of Nakina and 80km east of the First-Nation community of Webequie (Figure 1). It is situated in the Porcupine Mining Division in area BMA 527861 (G-4306) (Figure 2). The property consists of four mining claims in good standing, each consisting of 16 claim units (Table 1, Figure 3). Table 1. Claim status of the Cliffs chromite property (as November 25th, 2013). Claim # Date staked Recorded Claim Work Total Total Present Due date units required work reserve work assignment 3011028 2003-Mar-29 2003-Apr-22 16 $6,400 $89,600 $31,626 $1,959 2019-Apr-22 3011027 2003-Mar-28 2003-Apr-22 16 $6,400 $89,600 $171,778 $50,899 2019-Apr-22 3012250 2003-Mar-29 2003-Apr-22 16 $6,400 $89,600 $0 $0 2019-Apr-22 3012251 2003-Mar-28 2003-Apr-22 16 $6,400 $89,600 $186,378 $4,160 2019-Apr-22 The property can only be accessed by air, via two possible routes: 1. Chartered fixed wing aircraft equipped with floats (summer) or skis (winter) from Nakina to Koper Lake (~290km, ~1.5 hr flight). From Koper Lake, crew and equipment are transferred to the camp via helicopter (~4km, ~3 min flight) in summer months, or snowmobile and light duty truck in winter months. 2. Commercial aircraft from Thunder Bay to Webequie (~530km, ~2 hr flight), and transfer to the camp via helicopter (~76km, ~20 min flight) During the shoulder seasons (freeze-up and break-up), access can be gained to the property via the second route only. The closest all weather road to the property is in Nakina, however, a winter road system services the First Nation communities of Marten Falls, Webequie, Lansdowne House, Fort Albany, and Attawapiskat. Drilling operations are facilitated by helicopter in summer and by snowmobile and heavy equipment in the winter. All mineral exploration operates out of Cliffs’ Esker Camp, located 6km southwest of the property. The camp can accommodate approximately 65 occupants and includes diesel power generation and distribution, sleeping accommodations, kitchen and dining facilities, ablution facilities, shop, core logging, and storage facilities to support all field operations including helicopter operations, core logging and sampling, and diamond drilling. 2012-2013 Drill Report – Cliffs Chromite Project Page - 2 - The local climate of the project area exhibits extreme temperature fluctuations from the winter to summer seasons. Summer temperatures range between 10ºC and 30ºC, with a mean temperature of 13ºC in July. Winter temperatures usually range between -10ºC and -30ºC with an average January temperature of -23ºC. Lakes typically freeze-up in mid-October and break- up in mid-April. The region receives on average 610 mm of precipitation per year, with 200 mm originating from snow during the winter months. The project area is located in the Tundra Transition Zone. The majority of the property area can be described as “muskeg” with patchy forested areas around rivers and streams consisting of black and white spruce and tamarack, with minor amounts of trembling aspen, balsam poplar and white birch. Wildlife species noted in the area include beaver, black bear, otter, red fox, marten, muskrat, mink, squirrel, wolf, moose, and woodland caribou. Birds observed throughout the year include ravens and whisky jacks. Migratory birds typically include loons and Canadian geese. Predatory eagles and hawks have also been noted. The project area is located between the drainage basins of the Attawapiskat and Muketei Rivers. The Muketei River is a tributary of the larger Attawapiskat River, which flows eastward into the James Bay, and is located approximately 1.8 km west of Cliffs Chromite Ontario Esker Camp. 2012-2013 Drill Report – Cliffs Chromite Project Page - 3 - Figure 1. Location of the Cliffs Chromite property 2012-2013 Drill Report – Cliffs Chromite Project Page - 4 - Figure 2. Claim map of the Ring of Fire 2012-2013 Drill Report – Cliffs Chromite Project Page - 5 - Figure 3. Claim map of the Cliffs Chromite property 2012-2013 Drill Report – Cliffs Chromite Project Page - 6 - 3. EXPLORATION HISTORY Prior to the 1990’s the area experienced very little exploration due in large part to its remoteness and the extensive cover of the James Bay lowlands. Diamond exploration during the 1990’s resulted in the discovery of several kimberlite pipes, one of which (Victor) is now a producing diamond mine. In the process of testing kimberlite targets, DeBeers Canada and joint venture partners Spider Resources and KWG Resources made two significant VMS discoveries (McFauld’s No.1 and No.3 VMS deposits), triggering a staking rush in the area. In 2003 Freewest staked the claims comprising Cliffs’ Chromite property and contracted Fugro to perform an airborne magnetic and GEOTEM electromagnetic survey over the property which identified a large northeast trending magnetic anomaly with several coincident conductors along its northwest margin (Hogg, 2003). In winter 2004, under option to Noront Resources, ground magnetic and HLEM surveys were performed over the property further resolving the magnetic anomalies and identifying numerous weak conductors (Hogg, 2004). The first significant chromite mineralization in the area was discovered during a Freewest-KWG- Spider joint venture drilling campaign on the McFauld’s Lake property (outside of the Cliffs Chromite property) in February 2006 while targeting VMS-style mineralization.