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Monumental school vote approaches in Virginia, Eveleth-Gilbert districts
This Tuesday, May 14, voters in the Virginia and Eveleth-Gilbert school districts will vote in a school bond referendum. The result will shape the future of these communities and, quite possibly, the entire educational strategy of the Mesabi Iron Range. If that sounds like I’m laying it on a bit thick, consider the following: If…
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World’s largest mining company moves on PolyMet
Today, global mining giant Glencore moves one big step closer to owning the proposed Northern Minnesota copper-nickel venture PolyMet. Glencore is the largest mining company in the world by revenue with properties on six continents. It is three times larger than the next largest mining company. It is 11 times larger than the world’s largest…
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On comments
I’ve often spoken about my stint as the 21-year-old editor of a small daily newspaper on the Iron Range. You could argue I was too young, too inexperienced, and too pie-eyed for that whole thing to work, and that’s all objectively true, but I sure learned a hell of a lot. One of the duties…
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Cliffs CEO ‘in no hurry’ to build 2nd HBI plant
These days, Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves seems positively jubilant in his quarterly earnings calls with investors and the media. And why not? The first quarter of the year is normally pretty slow. That’s when iron ore ships are docked until ice retreats from the Great Lakes. Nevertheless, Cliffs performed well ahead of expectations in the…
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Prairie River Minerals aims to restart scram mining on western Mesabi
Amid high demand and temporarily limited global supply, another new scram mining venture aims to reclaim natural iron ore on the western Mesabi Iron Range. Prairie River Minerals seeks to mine about 1.3 million tons of iron ore annually, mostly in Itasca County, hiring about 125 union workers in the process. The chief partners in…
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With final permit, PolyMet project enters ‘prove it’ stage
Today the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the last required federal permit for PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. With this permit, the company now enters the next phase of its development: proving that it has the capital and ability to execute its mine plan. Local news and Northern Minnesota social media…
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What next for long-suffering Nashwauk mine project?
I drive past the former Butler Taconite mine site near Nashwauk, Minnesota, nearly every day. As such, I have ample time to join my neighbors, local leaders and international iron ore traders in wondering what might happen with the long-stalled construction of a new mine there. All this comes more than three decades after Butler…
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Essar sues state but misses deadline; Cliffs hungry for ore
Essar Steel is fighting back against state attempts to debar the company, but in doing so reveals it will miss another deadline on the long beleaguered iron ore project. Meantime, Cleveland-Cliffs hungrily seeks new ore reserves, reopening a mine in Michigan and waiting to develop its property near the Essar site.
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10-week sprint to special election for Iron Range school plan
On May 14, voters in Virginia, Eveleth and Gilbert will decide whether a new $181 million shared high school plan becomes reality.
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New Virginia/Eveleth-Gilbert high school plan gains major funding boost
Two rival Iron Range school districts will build a consolidated high school if voters approve a now greatly subsidized school levy. Last Friday, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board recommended to its state department a $100 million investment in a shared Virginia and Eveleth-Gilbert high school. Almost $5 million per year would space out…
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Hibbing Community College to name buildings
If you’re like me, you wonder how places got their names. There’s usually some story involved, even if it’s boring. At college you might have sat in a building named for some dusty old multisyllabic poo-bah from the past. A plaque in the lobby identified the crusty oldster, who we all assume forked over a…
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Bill would name state’s tallest bridge for Tom Rukavina
On Thursday, State Rep. David Lislegard (DFL-Aurora) introduced a bill that would name the Highway 53 bridge between Eveleth and Virginia the Tom Rukavina Memorial Bridge. Rukavina, a longtime Iron Range legislator known for his fiery speeches and pro-labor politics, died Jan. 6 after battling cancer. He was 68. The Highway 53 bridge was part…
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DNR to block Essar Steel from doing business with state
Earlier this month, Essar Steel roared back to life in the continuing saga of a proposed iron mine near Nashwauk, Minnesota. Today, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said that the state wasn’t buying it.
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A year after KKK flyers, Range town to rally for King holiday
This Monday, Jan. 21, the city of Virginia, Minnesota, and Mesabi Range College will host a MLK Peace and Unity march and rally celebrating the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The march starts at noon on the west side of Virginia City Hall at 327 1st Street South with the 12:15…
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Remembering Iron Range political legend Tom Rukavina
Minnesota political firebrand Tom Rukavina died Monday after a difficult battle with the illness that forced his retirement from the St. Louis County Board last year. A booming voice for the working people of the Mesabi Iron Range, Rukavina made his name in the state legislature where his short stature, booming voice and sharp-elbowed sense…