Larry Sutherland, chief operating officer for Mesabi Metallics, looks over a map showing mineral leases near the mine’s Iron Range operations in Nashwauk. (Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Mesabi Metallics also has a path to effectively replace the 2,600 acres of lost state mineral leases — at the expense of rival Cleveland-Cliffs, the Iron Range’s leading mining company.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources yanked Mesabi’s state mineral leases and last year re-awarded them to Cliffs. But Mesabi — in a new twist — appears to have wrested control of 3,200 acres of prime private mineral leases from Cleveland-Cliffs.
An arbitration panel earlier this year ruled in favor of Mesabi on those leases. A state district judge must still approve the arbitrators’ decision, and Cliffs is fighting fiercely against it.
Without the 3,200 acres of leases, Mesabi’s mine would last only 10 to 12 years by Mesabi’s estimate, or six to seven years by an estimate from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The 3,200 acres is a ”game changer,” said Joe Henderson, director of the DNR’s lands and minerals division. “Our engineers believe that with the 3,200 acres, depending on the economics of it, they can have at least a 20-year life.”
Workers move components that will be used to load pellets onto trains outside the pellet production plant Mesabi Metallics is once again building in Nashwauk. (Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
If completed, the Nashwauk project would be the state’s first new taconite mine and mill since the 1970s — and a big economic boost for the Iron Range.
