Exhibit 13(b)




                         REPORT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS
                         ------------------------------



Shareholders and Board of Directors
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc



We have audited the accompanying statement of consolidated financial position of
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc and consolidated subsidiaries as of December 31, 1997 and
1996, and the related statements of consolidated income, shareholders' equity
and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31,
1997. Our audits also included the financial statement schedule listed in the
index at Item 14(a). These financial statements and schedule are the
responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on these financial statements and schedule based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material
misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by
management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.
We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in
all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Cleveland-Cliffs
Inc and consolidated subsidiaries at December 31, 1997 and 1996, and the
consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the
three years in the period ended December 31, 1997, in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles. Also in our opinion, the related financial
statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic financial
statements taken as a whole, presents fairly in all material respects the
information set forth therein.



                                                 ERNST & YOUNG LLP

Cleveland, Ohio
February 12, 1998

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