Speeches are given at the new Mesabi Metallics iron ore mine on Sept. 17 in Nashwauk. [MPR News]
The new mill in eastern Iowa will be built by Mesabi Metallics, a Minnesota-based company owned by India’s Essar Group, an industrial conglomerate. The White House said the plant will begin producing steel in 2030 and create more than 2,000 jobs in the United States. When it’s fully built out, it’s expected to produce 10 million tons of steel a year, more than any other in the U.S.
The steel plant will be supplied by the new $2.5 billion iron ore mine that Mesabi developed on Minnesota’s Iron Range and officially opened earlier this month. It’s the first new iron ore mine in the state in a half-century. The resulting steel will be produced from start to finish in the United States, the White House said
The Mesabi Metallics mine’s opening comes at a critical time in northeastern Minnesota, after closures last year at two of the region’s six taconite facilities. Mesabi has hired more than 200 workers so far, out of a planned 350 full-time employees at the mine near Nashwauk.
But news that Mesabi plans to build a steel plant in Iowa — and not in Minnesota — was called a “gut punch” by Republican state Rep. Spencer Igo, who represents the portion of the Iron Range where the new mine is located. Igo said the mine is a “big win” for the Range — but he said Mesabi’s next investment going to Iowa “should frustrate everyone who cares about the future of northern Minnesota..
Hot briquetted iron is a purer form of iron is used to feed smaller steel mills known as electric arc furnace
Minnesota Public Radio News
