A federal judge in Delaware has refused an attempt by Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. to tack racketeering claims onto its breach of contract suit against a Virginia coal producer in a last-ditch attempt to establish federal jurisdiction over the case.

In an 11-page opinion issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Gerald Austin McHugh Jr. said he “clearly” lacked diversity jurisdiction over the case because the plaintiff and a member of defendant Seneca Coal Resources were both from Ohio. That discovery, McHugh said, stripped the court of jurisdiction and barred Cleveland-Cliffs’ bid to save the lawsuit.