How much is a ton of taconite worth?
Lehtinen said the cost to produce traditional taconite is $60 to $80 per ton in Minnesota, with transportation to China about the same cost. "So, the price is still in that neighborhood of being profitable" to sell overseas, he said.
Is taconite the same as iron ore?
Horizons containing magnetite as the dominant mineral have been extensively mined since 1955 to produce iron ore pellets; the term 'taconite' has consequently been colloquially adapted to describe the magnetite iron-formation ores (taconite iron ore), the mining, milling, magnetic separation, and agglomerating process ...
Is taconite still mined?
In the past, iron ore was mined on three iron ranges - the Cuyuna, Mesabi and Vermilion - and also in Fillmore County in southeastern Minnesota. Today, only the Mesabi Range still has iron ore/taconite mining taking place.
How do you make taconite pellets?
To make these pellets, the hard taconite ore is blasted and then ground down with water to a fine powder. The fine iron rich particles, mostly of magnetite are extracted from the powder by use of magnetism. The concentrate (the wet taconite powder) is rolled with clay inside large rotating cylinders.
How much taconite is left in Minnesota?
“There is existing taconite, like they are mining today, that would sustain mining for another 100 years,” said Clevenstine....Crude ore reserves at Range mines.FacilityCrude ore*Mesabi Metallics322 million tons**Keetac1.2 billion tonsHibbing Taconite153 million tonsMinntac Mine674 million tons3 more rows•Oct 30, 2019
Where is the largest iron ore mine in the United States?
MinnesotaMinntac Mine The Minntac Mine is a surface mine located in Minnesota. It is owned by United States Steel and produced an estimated 12.791 MTPA of iron ore in 2020.
Is taconite mining bad for the environment?
Results from federally-funded scientific studies revealed the damage the tailings discharge had caused: fish populations were harmed by the increase in water turbidity, while the presence of fibrous minerals—described in research findings as “asbestos-like” and thought to be carcinogenic—were detected by EPA chemists.
What state has the most iron ore?
Iron ore is the primary mineral commodity by value in Minnesota, which leads the country in iron ore production.Mineral Industry Value: $3.27 billion.Percent of U.S. Total Value: 4.38.More items...•
Why is there so much iron ore in Minnesota?
Most of the world's iron ore, including that contained in northern Minnesota, was formed during the middle Precambrian. During this period, erosion leveled mountains. This erosion released iron and silica into the waters of a new sea.
What are taconite tailings used for?
It is a very hard rock containing low-grade iron ore used to make iron and steel. Using explosives, taconite is blasted into pieces that are then crushed into smaller pieces at a processing plant. After the iron ore is separated from the taconite, the tailings are the remaining by-product.
Why do we make taconite pellets?
Recovery of the iron requires fine grinding and concentration of iron-bearing phases, which in turn are formed into pellets suitable for blast furnaces. As high-grade deposits of iron ore have become depleted, taconite deposits have increased in importance as a source of iron ore.
How much iron is in a taconite pellet?
The magnetite is separated with magnets and agglomerated into marble-sized pellets. The finished pellets contain over 65% iron. These pellets are shipped to steel mills.
What is taconite iron ore used for?
Taconite is mined from the Mesabi Iron Range in Northern Minnesota. It is a very hard rock containing low-grade iron ore used to make iron and steel. Using explosives, taconite is blasted into pieces that are then crushed into smaller pieces at a processing plant.
Is iron ore still mined in Minnesota?
Metallic minerals Minnesota is by far the largest producer of the ferrous minerals iron ore and taconite in the United States. Even though nearly all of the high grade iron ore in Minnesota has already been mined, advances in technology have made possible the use of low-grade iron ore, called taconite.
What is taconite made up of?
taconite, a low-grade siliceous iron ore composed of 20–30 percent magnetite that occurs in fine-grained banded iron formations. Taconite is mined primarily in the U.S., in the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota and the Marquette Iron Range in Michigan.
How much iron is in a taconite pellet?
The magnetite is separated with magnets and agglomerated into marble-sized pellets. The finished pellets contain over 65% iron. These pellets are shipped to steel mills.
How is taconite blasted?
1. Blasting. Taconite is a very hard rock. Using explosives, the taconite is blasted into small pieces. 2. Transportation. The taconite pieces are scooped up by electric shovels. Each shovel can hold up to 85 tons of rock! The shovels place the taconite into giant dump trucks.
How is iron ore separated from taconite?
The iron ore is separated from the taconite using magnetism. The remaining rock is waste material and is dumped into tailings basins. The taconite powder with the iron in it is called concentrate.
What was the name of the rock that was used to mine iron ore?
Davis of the University of Minnesota, along with other scientists and engineers, conducted years of laboratory tests and experiments to find a way to take the iron ore out of the taconite rock. After many years of hard work, a process was developed to create taconite pellets. Taconite saved Minnesota's iron ore mining industry.
Where are taconite pellets loaded?
The taconite pellets are loaded into ore ships. These ships sail on the Great Lakes to Gary, Indiana, Cleveland, Ohio and other steel-making towns. The taconite pellets are brought to the steel mills to be melted down into steel.
Is taconite a waste rock?
Taconite. Taconite is a low-grade iron ore. When the high-grade natural iron ore was plentiful, taconite was considered a waste rock and not used. But as the supply of high-grade natural ore decreased, industry began to view taconite as a resource. Dr.
Where is taconite mined?
Taconite is mined primarily in the U.S., in the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota and the Marquette Iron Range in Michigan.
What is taconite in encyclopedia?
See Article History. Taconite, a low-grade siliceous iron ore composed of 20–30 percent magnetite that occurs in fine-grained banded iron ...
What is a taconite hauler?
taconite hauler. A ship being loaded with taconite (an iron ore) at the Port of Duluth-Superior—a harbor shared by Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior , Wisconsin —which is the western terminal of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Seaway. iStockphoto/Thinkstock.
Where is taconite mined?
Rail transport of taconite takes place from the Marquette range area (where it is mined) to either Escanaba or Marquette, where it is loaded onto freighters for shipping. From these Great Lakes ports, it can travel the lower lakes (which are not frozen as long) to Detroit, Gary, Cleveland, Hamilton, or elsewhere.
What were the most important influences on the location of iron plants?
Location, location, location.... The proximity of fuel ( coal, coke and charcoal) to the center of iron production remained the most important influence on the location of 19th-century iron plants. Since the fuel was bulky and also had a tendency to deteriorate, transport costs for long distances were often prohibitive.
What did the 1850s men do with ore?
In the 1850s men unloaded ore in much the same way that they loaded it-with shovels. They scooped the heavy, dusty ore from the holds onto the deck of the ship . Another gang of workers transferred it to wheelbarrows and rolled it down gangplanks to waiting canalboats, wagons or railroad cars.
Where is iron ore shipped?
IRON ORE / TACONITE SHIPPING. All of the iron ore that is mined in the UP of Michigan and in northern Minnesota is moved out of the region as taconite pellets. Most of that moves via train cars and then via large ore freighters, such as the one shown below. Rail transport of taconite takes place from the Marquette range area (where it is mined) ...
When was iron ore discovered?
Nonetheless, when William Burt and his surveying team discovered iron ore along the southern Lake Superior shore in 1844, it hardly caused a stir. In fact, none of the party even bothered to file a claim on any portion of the area.
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Alex Tieberg
Alex Tieberg, an Iron Ranger, recently graduated from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, with a degree in American studies. His academic interests include Iron Range and American industrial history, public land policy, and economic restructuring in the American Midwest and Great Lakes regions.
Where is taconite mined?
More than 85% of the taconite iron ore mined in the United States is mined in northeastern Minnesota to supply the steel and foundry industry. Because the hard taconite iron ores are located near the surface, the most common mining style is open-pit mining that uses explosive blasting to loosen the taconite into smaller chunks that enables large electric shovel machines to load the rocks into large transport trucks. Each shovel can scoop up to 85 tons of ore. The transport trucks, capable of moving up to 240 tons, take the taconite chunks to a rotary crushing unit.
How is taconite crushed?
At the processing plant, the taconite is crushed into very small pieces by rock crushing machines. The crushers keep crushing the rock until it is about the size of a marble. The crushed rock is then mixed with water and further ground up in rotating mills until the taconite ore is as fine as powder.
How is taconite separated from iron?
By flowing the water-based liquid slurry of powderized taconite passed rotating drums with magnets located inside, the iron ore is separated from the taconite powder. Depending on the ore concentration in the taconite, 20-30% of the taconite is separated from the base ore. The remaining material is considered waste and is dumped into tailings basins and will be used to reconstruct the mine site after it has been depleted of ore. The taconite powder with the iron in it is called concentrate.
Where is taconite pellets made?
While most of the taconite pellets produced in the iron ranges of Minnesota is shipped to steel mills located in the great lakes region, there is some market for Pig Iron as a feed stock to cast iron foundries. Pig iron (know also as Crude Iron) is an intermediate product of the iron industry, which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a very high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with the dross silica pickup from the molding sand. The high carbon and and non-metallic inclusion contents make pig iron brittle and not useful as an engineered material until it can be further refined.
