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 (loss) 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 months ended March 31, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018 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, 2017.

On January 25, 2018, we announced that we would accelerate the projected time frame for the planned closure of our Asia Pacific Iron Ore mining operations in Australia. On April 6, 2018, we committed to a course of action expected to lead to the permanent closure of the Asia Pacific Iron Ore mining operations and expect our final Asia Pacific Iron Ore shipment to occur by June 30, 2018. Factors considered in this decision include increasingly discounted prices for lower-iron-content ore, the quality of the remaining iron ore reserves and the lack of a legitimate offer from a qualified buyer. As a result, we recorded various adjustments to Inventories, Property, Plant and Equipment, Environmental and mine closure obligations and Supplies and other inventories consistent with our current mine plan. Refer to NOTE 5 - INVENTORIES, NOTE 6 - PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT and NOTE 13 - ENVIRONMENTAL AND MINE CLOSURE OBLIGATIONS for further information.

We report our results from continuing operations in two reportable segments: U.S. Iron Ore and Asia Pacific Iron Ore.

Basis of Consolidation

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of our wholly-owned subsidiaries, including the following operations as of March 31, 2018:



Name	Location	Status of Operations
Northshore	Minnesota	Active
United Taconite	Minnesota	Active
Tilden	Michigan	Active
Empire	Michigan	Indefinitely Idled
Koolyanobbing¹	Western Australia	Active

¹ On April 6, 2018, we committed to a course of action expected to lead to the permanent closure of the Asia Pacific Iron Ore mining operations and expect our final Asia Pacific Iron Ore shipment to occur by June 30, 2018.

Intercompany transactions and balances are eliminated upon consolidation.

Equity Method Investments

Our 23% ownership interest in Hibbing is recorded as an equity method investment. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, our investment in Hibbing was $7.3 million and $11.0 million, respectively, classified as Other liabilities in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Position.

Foreign Currency

Our financial statements are prepared with the U.S. dollar as the reporting currency. The functional currency of our Australian subsidiaries is the Australian dollar. The functional currency of all other international subsidiaries is the U.S. dollar. The financial statements of our Australian subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at each balance sheet date for assets and liabilities and a weighted average exchange rate for each period for revenues, expenses, gains and losses. Translation adjustments are recorded as Accumulated other comprehensive loss. Income taxes generally are not provided for foreign currency translation adjustments. To the extent that monetary assets and liabilities, including short-term intercompany loans, are recorded in a currency other than the functional currency, these amounts are remeasured each reporting period, with the resulting gain or loss being recorded in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations. Transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement of short-term intercompany loans are included in Miscellaneous – net in the Statements of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Operations.

The following represents the transaction gains and losses resulting from remeasurement:



	(In Millions)
	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2018			2017
Short-term intercompany loans	$	(0.2	)	$	15.1
Cash and cash equivalents	0.1			(1.2		)
Other	(0.2		)	(0.3		)
Net impact of transaction gains (losses) resulting from remeasurement	$	(0.3	)	$	13.6

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, 2017 included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. There have been no material changes in our significant accounting policies and estimates from those disclosed therein other than those related to the adoption of Topic 606. Refer to NOTE 2 - NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS for further information.