Freewest Resources Canada Inc. TSX VENTURE: FWR

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - June 4, 2009) - Freewest Resources Canada Inc. (TSX VENTURE:FWR) announces that it has completed a private placement with Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio (NYSE:CLF)(PARIS:CLF) by issuing 14,750,000 common shares to Cliffs at a price of $0.35 per share, for proceeds to Freewest of $5,162,500.

Each share is accompanied by one-half of a common share purchase warrant. Each full warrant entitles Cliffs to purchase one additional Freewest share at a price of $0.45 for two years.

The proceeds from the private placement will be used by Freewest primarily for exploration on its 100%-owned McFaulds Lake chromite property in northern Ontario.

"We are delighted to have completed this private placement with Cliffs Natural Resources" said Mackenzie I. Watson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Freewest. "Cliffs is an important global supplier of steelmaking raw materials and we look forward to having the company as one of our major shareholders."

In connection with the private placement, Freewest granted Cliffs a right to participate in future equity financings by Freewest, so that Cliffs may retain its share ownership percentage in Freewest.

As a result of the private placement, there are 214,575,039 common shares of Freewest issued and outstanding, of which Cliffs holds 6.9%, without taking into account the exercise of warrants. The shares and warrants were issued by Freewest to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cliffs. Under applicable securities legislation, the securities issued in the private placement are subject to a four-month hold period, expiring on October 4, 2009.

About Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.

Cliffs Natural Resources is an international mining and natural resources company. It is the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America, a major supplier of direct-shipping lump and fines iron ore out of Australia and a significant producer of metallurgical coal. With core values of environmental and capital stewardship, Cliffs' colleagues across the globe endeavor to provide all stakeholders operating and financial transparency as embodied in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. The Company is organized through three geographic business units:

The North American business unit is comprised of six iron ore mines owned or managed in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada, and two coking coal mining complexes located in West Virginia and Alabama. The Asia Pacific business unit is comprised of two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia and a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine in Queensland, Australia. The South American business unit includes a 30% interest in the Amapa Project, an iron ore project in the state of Amapa in Brazil, as well as a number of smaller greenfield projects not yet in production.

Over recent years, Cliffs has been executing a strategy designed to achieve scale in the mining industry and focused on serving the world's largest and fastest growing steel markets.

About Freewest

Freewest is a well-financed mineral exploration corporation with over C$8.0 million in working capital. It is actively exploring for gold, base-metals and chromite within eastern Canada. Corporate information can be accessed on the Internet at www.freewest.com. Freewest's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol FWR.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.