Mining Operations
Iron ore is currently mined only from open pits, although some mines operated underground early on. The mined ore is then transported away, primarily by the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway to the ports of Two Harbors and Duluth. In the early years of mining from the late 19th century until the 1950s, mining focus was on high grade ore (hematite) that could be processed into steel without much change. However, when that supply dried up, focus shifted to lower-grade ore (taconite), which requires extensive processing at large mining-processing facilities before moving to port. At Duluth, trains of up to eighty 100-ton open cars are moved out on massive ore docks to be dumped into "lakers" of up to 60,000 tons weight for movement to steel mills in Indiana and Ohio.
Much of the softer ore was formed close to the surface, allowing mining operations to be conducted via the open pit mines. The world's biggest open pit iron ore mine is the Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine in Hibbing. Open pit mines that are no longer worked are a common feature along the iron range. Some of these sites have been redeveloped for other uses. For instance, the Virginia Pilot is a project which focuses on redeveloping the grounds adjacent to the old mines into low- to moderate-income residential space. The Hill-Annex Mine is now a state park and offers tours to visitors who wish to learn about mine operations. Tours are guided by former mine workers.
Currently, there are six mining-processing facilities in operation on the Iron Range. Cliffs Natural Resources owns and operates Northshore Mining, which has mining operations in Babbitt and crushing, concentrating (grinding) and pelletizing operations in Silver Bay, along with United Taconite which has mining operations in Eveleth and crushing, concentrating and pelletizing operations in Forbes. Arcelor Mittal owns and operates the Minorca Mine and Plant with mining operations near Biwabik and Gilbert and a crushing, concentrating and pelletizing facility near Virginia (47°32′34″N 92°31′01″W / 47.5428°N 92.5169°W / 47.5428; -92.5169). United States Steel owns and operates both KeeTac (47°23′57″N 93°04′33″W / 47.3992°N 93.0759°W / 47.3992; -93.0759) and Minntac (47°29′50″N 92°36′50″W / 47.49730°N 92.61401°W / 47.49730; -92.61401) with mining and processing facilities in Keewatin and Mountain Iron respectively. The last facility is Hibbing Taconite which operates a mine and plant between the cities of Hibbing and Chisholm. Although Arcelor Mittal owns a majority stake in Hibbing Taconite, the operating agent is actually a minority owner, Cliffs Natural Resources. United States Steel is also a minority stakeholder in Hibbing Taconite.
In addition, Essar Steel is building a mine/plant near Nashwauk that has plans to not only mine and process the taconite, but eventually to produce steel on-site ready for shipment around the world. Steel Dynamics and Kobe Steel own Mesabi Nugget (47°31′41″N 92°07′18″W / 47.5280°N 92.1216°W / 47.5280; -92.1216) near Hoyt Lakes which does not yet mine its own material, but does produce high-iron content nuggets. Magnetation, Inc. is another company currently working the Iron Range, but their focus is reclaiming leftover iron from ore dumps with company-designed high-power magnetic separators to produce concentrate to sell and ship throughout the world.
Read more about this topic: Mesabi Range
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