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Gloomy night
There was a somber feeling all over the city of Virginia last night. ArcelorMittal made it official Tuesday by announcing that the Minorca Mine would be idled for an additional three months after its scheduled April maintenance shutdown. This was expected, but in combination with MinnTac’s announced 590 layoffs from last week it adds to…
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Back to the underworld
Yesterday, Minnesota Public Radio’s Bob Kelleher described the highway work being done to Highway 169 by Chisholm as part of the federal stimulus bill. This part of the Iron Range had already drawn attention because of the vast “underworld” of abandoned mine shafts dug beneath the modern workings of the place. These underground mines caused…
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Rhetoric heats up in Range mining battle
The Duluth News Tribune ran a Sunday editorial blasting the environmental bill that would place new restrictions on nonferrous mining in Minnesota. It’s interesting to watch the DNT editorial board these days. They lurch to the political left and right at random, it seems. It’s like watching the state TV station of a South American…
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Range paper hits lawmakers’ term extension bill
The Mesabi Daily News echoes some of the same concerns I did about Sens. Tomassoni and Bakk’s proposal to extend Minnesota lawmakers’ terms from four to six years for senators and two to four years for representatives. Read the MDN‘s Sunday editorial. I have no idea why a bill like this would get a hearing…
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Could be worse …
Here are a couple items from Lee Bloomquist’s Range Views blog at Iron Range Resources: The water tower at the new Mesabi Nugget plant near Hoyt Lakes is now up. This week, Magnetation, Inc., shipped its first load of iron concentrate repurposed from old timey mining waste near Keewatin. Related posts: No related posts.
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A-OK by fourth quarter?
Beth Bily filed this story for Business North that details the current state of the mining industry on the Iron Range. This gives a good snapshot of all the mines and companies involved. There are a few other interesting tidbits that haven’t been reported in Minnesota media much. For instance, production and layoffs are running…
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GUEST POST: $12 million that could have helped, didn’t
A while back I offered readers of this blog the opportunity to write guest posts. A few have written me saying they’re thinking about it, but I finally got one for real this week. Bob Tammen is a retired miner from Soudan who has been a vocal critic of nonferrous mining projects on the East…
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‘It’s being taken away’
Anna Kurth and Jeff Warner at the Hibbing Daily Tribune did a nice perspective piece about what recently laid off miners on the Iron Range are thinking about and going through. The miners face challenges and worries, but it’s the other people down the employment food chain who face the prospect of genuine poverty should…
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That other Range writer is OK, I guess
Writers are a jealous lot, myself included. For some time the Duluth News Tribune has been running the columns of Gilbert writer Joseph Legueri under the banner “The Iron Range View.” And my reaction, petty and shallow though it may be, was always “What? Excuse me? I’m sorry, don’t they know that I do the…
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The whip cracks: More Iron Range mine shutdowns announced
WDIO and the Mesabi Daily News are reporting that two Cleveland Cliffs Iron Range mining operations, Hibbing Taconite and Northshore Mining, will see additional layoffs and shutdowns in 2009. Northshore will be shutdown in April. HibTac will idle a line in March and then see a 15-week summer shutdown from May to September. Cliffs also…
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Oh, just release the budget forecast so these guys can stop writing bills
Iron Range State Sens. Tom Bakk and David Tomassoni have authored legislation that would extend state senate terms from four years to six and state house terms from two years to four. The amendment, if passed into law, would go to Minnesota voters for approval. The move would save public money and reduce the amount…
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On the brink of the new, or the end
This is my weekly column for the Hibbing Daily Tribune published Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009. On the brink of the new, or the endBy Aaron J. Brown Today, amid the droning headlines of the flagging national economy, Iām here to write the words you long to hear. Everything on the Iron Range is going to…
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Future cleanup represents sticking point for nonferrous mining on the Iron Range
The Mesabi Daily News ran a Sunday piece by Jon Collins about the ongoing debate about a new bill that would limit nonferrous mining (copper, nickel and other minerals) in Minnesota to a very precise set of circumstances. Mining proponents say the bill amounts to a ban on nonferrous mining. Supporters of the bill say…
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Sunday remainders from the Iron Range
Here are some remainders from the bad news files over the weekend: Hibbing to close Family Investment Center, reopen with narrower focus (Hibbing Daily Tribune, link to be updated) Hundreds pack room to offer DFL legislators opinions on state budget fix (Mesabi Daily News) Community to rally for Cherry school amid closure rumors (Mesabi Daily…
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Largest Iron Range mine lays off 590
UPDATE: Friday morning information has been added. Also, correction to note that the layoffs begin in 2-3 weeks, and will likely last longer than 2-3 weeks. The Mesabi Daily News reports that U.S. Steel’s MinnTac plant will lay off 590 workers in 2-3 weeks because of the economy. MinnTac is the Iron Range’s largest mine…