9 September 2009Iron Range taconite plants boost production
Two Iron Range taconite plants are increasing production rates after being idled earlier this year due to weak demand for iron ore pellets.
United States Steel’s Minntac Mine in Mountain Iron this week restarted its Line 4 pellet production line following the restart of three other production lines. With the restarts, nearly 1,000 employees have returned to work at Minntac. Minntac Mine is North America’s largest taconite plant.
Cliffs Natural Resources, Incorporated in November will restart a second iron ore pellet furnace at its United Taconite Fairlane processing plant in Forbes. Mining operations at United Taconite’s Thunderbird Mine in Eveleth are increasing this week. Concentrator production at the Fairlane plant will ramp up in October, followed by a restart of the Line 1 furnace in early November. United Taconite’s 500 employees, who have been on a 32 hour work week since November 2008, will return to a 40 hour work week as production levels increase.
ArcelorMittal Minorca, a taconite plant near Virginia, will begin producing taconite pellets in early October.