2. History of Iron Mining
Iron ore mining first occurred in Minnesota on the Vermilion
Iron Range in 1884 and has since occurred on the Mesabi Iron
Range, Cuyuna Range, and the Filmore County District.
For the past 25 years, all of Minnesota’s iron mining has
occurred on the Mesabi Iron Range.
3. Minnesota's iron ore was
actually discovered while
miners were on their way to
seek gold.
Since their aim was gold, the
iron was ignored.
As it turned out, the iron
would become more valuable
to northern Minnesota than
the gold.
4. Minnesota is a
mining state
It’s six iron ore operations
produce about 40 million tons
of high-grade iron ore
annually.
Approximately 75 percent
of total U.S. iron ore
production.
To produce 40million tons of
high-grade iron ore,
Minnesota moves
240 million tons of material
including
135 million tons of crude
ore and 105 million tons of
surface and rock stripping.
5.
6. Geology
The Mesabi Iron Range is a narrow belt,
approximately three
miles wide, of iron-rich sedimentary
rocks, otherwise known as
the Biwabik Iron Formation.
The Mesabi Iron Range extends in a
northeasterly direction for
approximately 120 miles from west of
Grand Rapids, MN. Through Itasca
County to east of Babbitt, MN, and the
eastern edge of St. Louis County
7. • The formation is mostly buried by glacial drift.
• The rocks are middle Precambrian in age, about
1.8 billion years old.
• And consist of iron carbonates and iron silicates.
8. Miners
The mines were operated through the hard
work of the miners.
• They used shovels and pickaxes to take the ore out of the
rock.
• Horses and mules hauled the ore out of the mine.
• Later, steam shovels and engine-powered tools were used.
9.
10. Mining was dangerous
work. Many miners were
killed in mine accidents.
The worst mining
disaster in Minnesota
happened in 1924 on the
Cuyuna Range. Fortyone miners drowned in
the Milford mine when a
nearby lake broke
through the
underground mine,
flooding the tunnels.
11. The mines attracted
immigrants from almost
every nation in Europe.
Thousands of immigrants
were arriving in America at
the same time as the
mines were opened.
The Minnesota mines
provided jobs for many
immigrants.
Most of the jobs were for
unskilled, manual labor
that required great
physical strength.
12. Towns were built around
the mines.
As the mines were
expanded, many towns were
moved to new locations
because they were built on
top of iron ore.
Part of the city of Hibbing,
known as the "North Forty",
was moved to make way for
mine expansion. If you visit
Hibbing today, you can see
remains of sidewalks, house
foundations and street lights
near the Hull Rust Mahoning
Mine overlook.
13. Taconite is mined from the Mesabi Iron Range, near
Hibbing, MN.
Then it is processed into pellets and moved by train--or
on ore boats from Duluth--to ports and steel mills around
the Great Lakes region.
14. The Hull Rust Mahoning Mine in Hibbing, Minnesota
World's largest open pit iron ore mine
First ore shipments in 1895 (still being mined today, 114 years later)
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Originally 30 separate mines
Total area: 1,591 acres
Total length: 3 1/2 miles
Greatest width: 1 1/2 miles
Greatest depth: 535 feet
Total ore shipped: About 1 billion tons Total rock removed:
About 2 billion tons (that's 4 trillion pounds!)
