Larry Lehtinen, head of Mesabi Nugget, says he thinks it could lead to "a renaissance of the Iron Range."
Mesabi Nugget has received financing or commitments from a variety of entities, including the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, which recently approved a $500,000 loan; Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., which has tentatively agreed to house the project at its Northshore Mining Co. taconite plant in Silver Bay; and Kobe Steel Ltd. of Japan, a technology partner in the project. A major investor in the project is the state's 21st Century Minerals Fund, an $80-million fund designed to encourage development of a value-added taconite product in Minnesota, which is expected to invest $50 million.
Steel Dynamics based in Butler, IN, has expressed interested as a potential customer and investors in the project, and the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development is also considering lending or investing in the project.
The $84-million project has four steps: a $20 million technology development plan; $4 million for design and environment permitting; and $60 million for the plant.
The nuggets can be used in conventional foundries, but the target market would be mini-mills that use scrap steel. The plant would produce 300,000 tons of iron nuggets a year to start.
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