Exhibit 99(a)

NEWS RELEASE                                          Cleveland-Cliffs Inc
                                                      1100 Superior Avenue
                                                      Cleveland, Ohio 44114-2589



              CLEVELAND-CLIFFS ANNOUNCES SENIOR MANAGEMENT CHANGES


         Cleveland-Cliffs Inc today announced that the Company's Board of
Directors has taken the following actions to be effective January 1, 2000:

         -  John S. Brinzo, presently President and Chief Executive Officer, has
            been elected Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.

         -  Thomas J. O'Neil, presently Executive Vice President-Operations, has
            been elected President and Chief Operating Officer.

         -  Edward C. Dowling, Jr., Senior Vice President-Operations, has been
            given responsibility for the Company's partnership mines operations.

         Mr. Brinzo, who was elected President and Chief Executive Officer on
November 10, 1997, replaces John C. Morley as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Morley,
who has served on the Company's Board since July 11, 1995, and as Non-Executive
Chairman of the Board since November 10, 1997, will continue as a Board member
and Chairman of the Compensation and Organization Committee.

         Mr. Brinzo, 57, began his Cliffs' career in 1969, rising to Executive
Vice President-Finance and Planning prior to his election as President in 1997.
He is a 1964 graduate of Kent State University and a 1968 graduate of Case
Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Business.

         Mr. O'Neil assumes responsibility for all North American iron ore
mining operations, managed by the Company, which collectively employ 5800 people
in Canada and the United States, and produce 42 million tons of iron ore pellets
annually, accounting for approximately 50 percent of the North American iron ore
supply. He will also be responsible for human resources, information technology,
labor relations, public affairs, research and engineering, purchasing, safety
and environmental affairs.

         Mr. O'Neil, 59, joined the Company in 1991 as Senior Vice
President-Technical, responsible for research, engineering and geology. He was
promoted to his current position in 1995, where he was responsible for the
Company's partnership mine operations. Mr. O'Neil holds bachelor, masters, and
doctorate degrees from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania State University, and the
University of Arizona, respectively. Prior to joining Cliffs, he was Vice
President-Engineering and Development of Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, where he
also had held key operating and development positions. He has had significant
academic assignments, including head of the department of mining and geological
engineering at the University of Arizona. Mr. O'Neil is a member of the National
Academy of Engineering and serves on the Board of Hecla Mining Company.


         Mr. Dowling assumes operating responsibility for the Company's five
managed partnership mines in North America, including liaison responsibility
with the seven steel companies who own the majority of the mining interests.

         Mr. Dowling, 44, joined Cliffs in 1998 as Senior Vice President with
principal responsibility for leading Cliffs' continuous improvement program and
research and engineering functions. Prior to joining the Company, he was Senior
Vice President and Director-Process Management and Engineering for Cyprus Amax
Mineral Company, where he also held key operating positions. Prior to joining
Cyprus Amax, he was General Superintendent of the Chino Division of Phelps Dodge
Corporation. Mr. Dowling holds bachelor, masters, and doctorate degrees in
mining engineering and mineral processing from the Pennsylvania State
University, where he was elected a Centennial Fellow in 1996. Dowling is a
member of the National Materials Advisory Board and Executive Board of the
Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc.

         Mr. Brinzo, chairman and chief executive officer elect, said,
"Promotion of these exceptional executives is consistent with our objective of
nurturing our core iron mining business and leading organizational change to
achieve our aggressive improvement objectives."

         The Company's important iron ore marketing, business development and
its reduced iron business will continue to be lead by William R. Calfee,
Executive Vice President-Commercial, who reports to John Brinzo.

                                     * * * *

         Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest supplier of iron ore products to the
North American steel industry and is developing a significant ferrous metallics
business. Subsidiaries of the Company manage six iron ore mines in North America
and hold equity interests in five of the mines. Cliffs has a major iron ore
reserve position in the United States, is a substantial iron ore merchant, and
is beginning production of hot briquetted iron at a joint venture plant in
Trinidad and Tobago.

                                       2