20 January 2009Magnetation, Inc., readying to begin production.
Magnetation, Inc., the first iron producing facility of its kind in the world, is commissioning equipment at its plant near Nashwauk and readying to begin production.
Magnetation will produce iron units from natural iron ore tailings that for decades have been stored in mining industry impoundment basins on the Iron Range.
Tailings are a by-product of the iron mining process.
To turn what has long been considered a waste product into valuable iron, the seven owners of Magnetation have further developed and refined a proprietary process that recovers iron particles from the tailings.
The technology for the process was developed more than 20 years ago by Al Fritz, a retired mining engineer from Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Fritz is a co-founder and investor in Magnetation.
Hundreds of millions of tons of tailings are stored across the Iron Range in tailings impoundments.
Magnetation owners are: Gene Bergstrom, Dave Chappie, Tom Hammerlund, Rod Hunt, Larry Lehtinen, Ed Shaughnessy and Fritz.
Magnetation is the third project under construction on the Iron Range that creates a new value-added product from Iron Range ore.
Mesabi Nugget near Aurora and Hoyt Lakes is projected in the third quarter of 2009 to begin producing iron nuggets and Essar Steel Minnesota is constructing a taconite plant, direct-reduced iron and steel mill near Nashwauk.
All three projects are supported by Iron Range Resources loans.