The Vermilion Range, with its distinctive hard and high-grade iron ore deposits, looms large in the history of the mining industry in Minnesota. It was the first range to open (1884) and also the first to cease commercial mining operations (1967) due to changes in the steel-making process and the rise of cheaper-to-produce taconite on the nearby Mesabi Range.
The post-war years into the 1960s and 1970s saw decreased demand and the closure of many mines. Today iron ore is still mined on the Iron Range but in a much-diminished capacity. Iron ore mining has had a lasting impact on Minnesota and helped to shape the state's industrial and cultural identity.
The Mesabi Iron Range wasn't the first iron range to be mined in Minnesota, but it has arguably been the most prolific. Since the 1890s, the Mesabi has produced iron ore that boosted the national economy, contributed to the Allied victory in …
The Iron Ore Alliance is a voice for people who work at mines in Minnesota. Our advocacy for the Minnesota iron range helps to protect thousands of jobs. ... The Mars family's locally owned company has been supporting mining and other Iron Range industries since its creation back in 1924. Cheers to this incredible milestone!
Many around Calumet include material like this, consisting of pebble-sized iron ore. Photo by Brown for Minnesota Reformer. For 130 years, workers excavated vast wealth from the Mesabi Iron Range for big companies out East. Today, that could change. ... iron mining companies piled overburden and waste material into giant hills around ...
After many years of hard work, a process was developed to create taconite pellets. Taconite saved Minnesota's iron ore mining industry. Learn more about Taconite from Minnesota History Center. The Hull Rust Mahoning Mine in Hibbing, Minnesota. World's largest open pit iron ore mine; First ore shipments in 1895 (still being mined today, 114 ...
Companies would still need iron ore, but they wouldn't need the traditional taconite pellets produced by existing Range mines. So while we on the Mesabi are worried about Hibbing Taconite staying open, these companies …
Its six iron ore operations produce about 40 million tons of high-grade iron ore annually, which is approximately 75 percent of total U.S. iron ore production. To produce 40 million tons of high-grade iron ore, Minnesota moves on the order of 240 million tons of material including 135 million tons of crude ore and 105 million tons of surface ...
The Mesabi Iron Range wasn't the first iron range to be mined in Minnesota, but it has arguably been the most prolific. Since the 1890s, the Mesabi has produced iron ore that boosted the national economy, contributed to the …
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The developers of a long-delayed copper-nickel mining project in northeastern Minnesota announced Wednesday that they plan to conduct a series of studies over the next year on ...
Companies have long mined for iron ore and taconite in Minnesota, which carries some environmental risks and impacts like polluting air and water with mercury and sulfate.
Several companies continue to mine high-grade iron ore, using state-of-the-art technologies, contributing to the local economy and supporting job growth in the area. The Mesabi Range, the greatest of Minnesota's three iron ranges, led towns and cities from Hibbing to ia. Today, its vast open-pit mines continue to produce high-grade iron ...
A lot of America's military might during the war can be traced back to Minnesota's plentiful iron deposits. ... An electrical shovel owned by the Oliver Iron Mining Company gathered ore in a ...
U.S. Steel announced in 2022 plans to break ground on a new $150 million direct reduced iron production facility near Keewatin on the Range. In November 2022, the …
Located in Hibbing, Minnesota, this site overlooks a portion of the Mesabi iron formation and more than 125 years of continuous iron ore mining in Minnesota This site is currently under construction. Check the City of Hibbing website and social media for updates and plan to ascend the reclamation pile, peruse the new buildings and view the ...
In June 2019, Cleveland-Cliffs completed a $100 million expansion of Northshore Mining, a company that mines iron ore near Babbitt, Minn., and moves the ore by rail to a processing plant on the ...
Taconite/Iron Ore. Background: Most of the leases are for the mining of taconite, a lower grade iron ore. Historically, the State of Minnesota has been leasing its iron ore and taconite resources since the 1890s. All leases must be approved by the State Executive Council.. Statutes: The leasing of state-owned lands and interests in lands for govern the leasing for iron ore and …
Companies would still need iron ore, but they wouldn't need the traditional taconite pellets produced by existing Range mines. So while we on the Mesabi are worried about Hibbing Taconite staying open, these companies are literally dueling over the very future of American steel production. ... The Minnesota Reformer is an independent ...
Known as the "Cadillac of Mines," Soudan is the richest source of iron ore in Minnesota and the state's oldest mine. It's now also home to a high-tech physics lab operated by the University of Minnesota. ... This 1897 home was built for the superintendent of the Oliver Iron Mining Company. The home was among the nearly 200 structures ...
Today, Minnesota's six iron mining facilities are capable of producing more than 40,000,000 tons of iron ore and taconite a year. This ore is brought to steelmaking facilities either by ship or by rail. In last year's shipping season, more than 21 million tons of iron ore were shipped on the Great Lakes from Minnesota ports.
Northeast Minnesota's six active iron mines and their processing facilities produce two-thirds of the iron ore used to make steel in the United States. The iron ore is recovered from taconite, which is a challenging process that produces large amounts of waste and requires significant energy use. ... The company saved $260,000 by reducing ore ...
A new firm, the Calumet Reclamation Company, wants to process several iron waste piles around Calumet for rich hematite ore. Then, they want to ship it to a new pig iron plant in North Dakota. The same firm wants to excavate the site of the Hill Annex Mine State Park while dewatering the deep pit there for more mining activity.
Minnesota's Iron Range has experienced monumental shifts since settlers found iron-rich deposits there in the late 19th century. The giants of American industry — James J. Hill, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller — collectively created U.S. Steel, the world's first …
Reclaimed ore, high prices mean Minnesota iron could head to North Dakota Starting in 2025, company plans to ship iron ore waste north of Bismarck, near Underwood and Coal Creek Station
The discovery of iron ore on the Mesabi Range can hardly be credited to one person. In 1890, however, it was the family of Merritt that found merchantable ore and opened the Mesabi to industry. Within three years, they owned several mines and had built a railroad leading to immense ore docks in Duluth. On the cusp of controlling a mining empire in northern …
The Iron Mining Association (IMA) of Minnesota promotes a healthy iron ore industry that will continue to benefit northeastern Minnesota as well as the entire state. It's an industry our communities, state and country depend on today and into the future. ... If you care about Minnesota's Iron Mining industry, you should become a member ...
When Congress lifted the arms embargo to Europe, mining companies decided it was time to bring their workers back from a long period of instability. When 9,000 miners were given jobs again, iron production on the Range increased from a measly 15 million tons in 1938 to 33 million tons of raw iron ore in 1939.
Across the highway from the Minnesota Discovery Center, the Iron Ore Miner Statue ... Mining companies paid some $4 million in 1923 to build the grand structure, largely as payback to the families who were forced to relocate from North Hibbing to make way for a new mine. The 1,805-seat auditorium is unbelievably beautiful for a high school.
The Mesabi Iron Range wasn't the first iron range to be mined in Minnesota, but it has arguably been the most prolific. Since the 1890s, the …
1913: Sample of taconite arrives at University of Minnesota Mines Experiment Station. 1922-1924: Mesabi Iron Company operates short-lived commercial taconite plant in Babbitt. 1939: Reserve Mining company organizes, leasing Mesabi Iron Company property. 1941: Law passed to exclude taconite from ad valorem tax.