Essar moves ahead with Nashwauk plans

Business North leads today with an update on the Essar Steel project slated over the boneyard of the old Butler mine outside Nashwauk. Company officials explain the progress of what is supposed to become the first integrated mining and steelmaking facility on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. Others, (including, as I now see, myself), are quoted voicing skepticism over the company’s long range plans regarding the steelmaking portion of the project.

I’ve often said that it makes deep, logical sense to produce steel in the same place you mine ore. It would save gobs of energy and transportation cost. And I hope Essar does proceed with their stated plans. But I think we on the Iron Range would be wise to plan for a world where one company and one project can’t save the region or any given town (in this case, Nashwauk) within the region.

Comments

  1. Have you noticed how FB has changed the format so that when you link to a blog, you can’t comment there anymore! Can’t even like!

  2. Good to hear there are workers on site and construction appears to be a go. If Anzelc wanted american steel used in construction the IRRRB should’ve put it in the contract when they gave them money.
    If Essar can make money up here producing steel they will, if they can’t make money they’ll just mine ore. Seems simple to me.

  3. Carol, I don’t know about that. My Facebook feed is through Networked Blogs, which is an app you install in FB. I don’t have a commercial FB page (I am considering it, though I’d have to try to get my followers to follow me to the new FB page). It’s possible this is the issue of which you speak.

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