Mining our future mesabitribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mesabitribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Â
  Plant idlings, employee furloughs and a production downturn, hit the industry hard.
  At the same time, mega consolidations and acquisitions hold promise to lead the iron and steel industries into a new future.
  Major industry consolidation occurred some 20 years ago. However, even more consolidation took place this year. Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. led the way.
  ⢠Cliffs completed two major consolidations which for the first time moved the 173-year-old company into steelmaking.
  ⢠United States Steel Corp. expanded into electric arc furnace steelmaking and agreed to option interest in its mammoth Minntac Mine in Mountain Iron.
  After the industry hit the skids in the spring, domestic steel prices and global iron ore prices by the end of 2020 skyrocketed to the highest levels in years.   Â
Northeastern Minnesota s iron ore plants are green.
Every customer of Minnesota Power is now receiving 50 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, the Duluth-based electric utility announced Wednesday.
That includes northeastern Minnesota iron ore plants.
What it means is that the iron ore industry â the utility s largest customer â is getting half its power from Minnesota Power wind, hydro, or solar sources.
Julie Pierce, Minnesota Power vice president of strategy and planning, says the iron ore industry will continue to receive dependable, reliable power under the power mix.
âThis clean energy transition is preparing the northland for a sustainable future and show we have the resources to enable the cleanest manufacturing facilities in the midwest,â Pierce said. âWe have had the privilege to serve these customers (iron ore plants) as long as they have been on the Iron Range and we are working closely with them and all our stakeholders on ou