Taconite Mining

Taconite Mining. . Northshore Mining Company originally operated as Reserve Mining Company. It was the first taconite mining and processing facility in North America when it opened in 1955. The company currently employs nearly 500 people and produces about 5 million tons of pellets annually at the Silver Bay facility. From this point you can see the loading facilities as well as stockpiles of processed material ready for shipment., From Taconite to Your Household , A low-grade iron ore called "taconite" is mined at Northshore's mining operation in Babbitt, Minnesota. The ore is blasted and crushed before it is sent by rail to Silver Bay for processing., Here, the four-inch pieces of taconite ore are ground to a fine powder and the iron is separated from the remaining rock using hydraulic, magnetic, and flotation separation processes. Once the iron is removed from the rock, and upgraded from 25- to 65-percent iron content, it is mixed with a binder and rolled into marble-size round balls called pellets. It is then shipped in large ore boats to mills to make steel. Approximately three tons of crude ore are processed to yield one ton of taconite pellets., Taconite pellets produced at Northshore Mining come back to Minnesota as the steel in cars and trucks, household appliances, construction materials, and a wide range of products that we use every day. This kiosk is another example of a product made from steel., The Minnesota DNR thanks Northshore Mining Company for its contributions to marina improvements.