The importance of Iron Ore

Minnesota Mining

History of Iron Mining

Iron ore mining first occurred in Minnesota on the Vermilion

Iron Range in 1884 and has since occurred on the Mesabi Iron

Range, Cuyuna Range, and the Filmore County District.

For the past 25 years, all of Minnesota’s iron mining has occurred on the Mesabi Iron Range.

Minnesota's iron ore was actually discovered while miners were on their way to seek gold.

Since their aim was gold, the iron was ignored.

As it turned out, the iron would become more valuable to northern Minnesota than the gold.

Minnesota is a mining

state

It’s six iron ore operations produce about 40 million tons of high-grade iron ore annually.

Approximately 75 percentof total U.S. iron oreproduction.

To produce 40million tons of high-grade iron ore, Minnesota moves240 million tons of material including135 million tons of crudeore and 105 million tons ofsurface and rock stripping.

Geology

The Mesabi Iron Range is a narrow belt, approximately

threemiles wide, of iron-rich

sedimentary rocks, otherwise known as

the Biwabik Iron Formation.

The Mesabi Iron Range extends in a northeasterly direction for approximately 120 miles from

west of Grand Rapids, MN. Through Itasca County to east of Babbitt, MN, and the eastern

edge of St. Louis County

• The formation is mostly buried by glacial drift.

• The rocks are middle Precambrian in age, about 1.8 billion years old.

• And consist of iron carbonates and iron silicates.

The mines were operated through the hard work of the

miners.

• They used shovels and pickaxes to take the ore out of the rock.

• Horses and mules hauled the ore out of the mine.

• Later, steam shovels and engine-powered tools were used.

Miners

Mining was dangerous work. Many miners were killed in mine accidents. The worst mining disaster in Minnesota happened in 1924 on the Cuyuna Range. Forty-one miners drowned in the Milford mine when a nearby lake broke through the underground mine, flooding the tunnels.

The mines attracted immigrants from almost every nation in Europe.

Thousands of immigrants were arriving in America at the same time as the mines were opened.

The Minnesota mines provided jobs for many immigrants.

Most of the jobs were for unskilled, manual labor that required great physical strength.

Towns were built around the mines.

As the mines were expanded, many towns

were moved to new locations because they

were built on top of iron ore.

Part of the city of Hibbing, known as the

"North Forty", was moved to make way for mine expansion. If you visit Hibbing today, you

can see remains of sidewalks, house

foundations and street lights near the Hull Rust Mahoning Mine

overlook.

                                                                                                              

                                                                  

Taconite is mined from the Mesabi Iron Range, near Hibbing, MN.

Then it is processed into pellets and moved by train--or on ore boats from Duluth--to ports and steel mills around

the Great Lakes region.

The Hull Rust Mahoning Mine in Hibbing, Minnesota

World's largest open pit iron ore mineFirst ore shipments in 1895 (still being mined today, 114

years later)

• Originally 30 separate mines• Total area: 1,591 acres• Total length: 3 1/2 miles• Greatest width: 1 1/2 miles• Greatest depth: 535 feet• Total ore shipped: About 1 billion tons Total rock

removed: About 2 billion tons (that's 4 trillion pounds!)