One of the Mesabi Iron Range’s largest mining companies will be under new leadership next month. Mario Longhi, CEO of U.S. Steel, will retire June 1. Company chief operations officer David Burritt will take the helm. U.S. Steel is an integrated steelmaker, meaning that the company mines its own ores, produces steel in blast furnaces, and finishes… Read More →
From horse and buggy to hybrids, the woman who lived history
March 26, 2017 by 1 Comment
My great-grandmother Ruby Peck died Feb. 26, 2017 at the age of 103. For most of my life she lived alone in a small house set amid the rolling hills of southern Pennsylvania. My great-grandmother was a rock-ribbed Republican who voted that way because the GOP was the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S…. Read More →
Cliffs boasts big earnings, state support in Essar battle
February 13, 2017 by 8 Comments
Last week, Cliffs Natural Resources CEO Lourenco Goncalves announced that his company posted a $199 million profit in 2016. That reflects a positive swing of almost $1 billion from the dismal 2015 downturn of the American steel industry. It’s also basic math, as Cliffs finally has all its Minnesota mines up and running, filling orders… Read More →
Keewatin Taconite will reopen in March 2017
December 29, 2016 by 1 Comment
WDIO reports that Keewatin Taconite will reopen in March 2017, ending a 19-month shutdown. U.S. Steel announced it signed pellet contracts with third party steelmakers, providing the spark to reopen the long dormant Keewatin plant. KeeTac was the last taconite mine on the Range still closed after last year’s steel downturn, which at one time had… Read More →
U.S. Steel vows (nonspecifically) to restore 10,000 jobs
December 8, 2016 by 2 Comments
In recent days, we’ve been talking about the general improvement of stock and commodity prices as they relate to Mesabi Range iron mines. One of my key observations was that despite the surge, U.S. Steel’s Keewatin Taconite remained closed after 18 months. Well, stop the presses. Maybe. On Wednesday, U.S. Steel CEO Mario Longhi said on… Read More →
Iron Range uncertainty endures even as iron ore surges
November 30, 2016 by 5 Comments
Last night, history professor Jeff Manuel and I spoke to a patient, nice-sized crowd at the Grand Rapids Public Library about the past, present and future of the taconite industry on the Mesabi Iron Range. Our conclusion was as follows: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ OK, perhaps that’s a little glib. Point is, you look at the short term you… Read More →
Grandpa has something to tell Grandma
October 2, 2016 by 6 Comments
Gray skies hang low over the idled Keewatin Taconite plant. I meet my grandpa, Marv Johnson, at the very busy Sinclair gas station. We’re on a secret mission. “Too crowded,” he says. I peek around the corner at the gas station’s only table and chairs. Several townsfolk stare back like whitetail deer. Grandpa’s already back… Read More →
LIVE BLOG: Primary Night on the Iron Range
August 9, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Welcome to the Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016 MinnesotaBrown primary election live blog. Your intrepid host Aaron Brown will provide analysis of Iron Range results throughout the evening. We’ll pay close attention to the House 6A DFL contest and St. Louis County commissioner races. 11:00: There will be more to write in coming days, but we can… Read More →
Range mines catch a Super Mario star
July 30, 2016 by Leave a Comment
If Iron Range mines were Super Mario, they’d be blinking while knocking off Goombas left and right. More on that below. This week brought quarterly earnings reports from the two biggest mining companies on Minnesota’s Iron Range, U.S. Steel and Cliffs Natural Resources. Both companies show significant improvement from a dismal 2015. Cliffs posted a profit… Read More →
Inside fundraising in House 6A Range DFL primary
July 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last week at the blog we dove into a debate over who funds Iron Range campaigns. At the time we didn’t have access to the first major campaign finance reports. Well, the Campaign Finance Board released those reports Tuesday morning. You can view them for yourself here. So let’s explore the fundraising for Northern Minnesota’s… Read More →
