NASHWAUK — There was a sea of bright, white hats in the new Nashwauk-Keewatin school Wednesday, Jan. 14.
Over 250 people attended the public meeting on Mesabi Metallics’ permits, according to an estimate from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, with many donning "Build Mesabi Build Itasca" caps.
The PCA's air, water and wetlands permits are one of the last steps before the first new mine on the Iron Range in decades can open.
Mesabi Metallics presently has around 100 local employees, and nearly all of them came out for the meeting.
"Easy choice for us to come support advancing our permits and getting the operation up and running," said Joe Nielsen, general manager of process.
"We're really excited to be so close to the finish line," said Maliah-Mae Pennington, who works in environmental compliance. “I think this just shows the work that we’ve been doing over the past year, year-and-a-half. The amount of supporters that are out here is amazing.”
Mesabi Metallics aims to be fully up and running by June.
The operation will include open-pit taconite mining, crushing, concentrating, pelletizing and direct iron reduction, producing up to 7 million tons of pellets each year.
At that level of production, Mesabi Metallics estimates it will generate $28 million in taxes each year: $11 million each for Itasca County and school districts, $500,000 for local cities and townships and $5.5 million for the state of Minnesota.
The PCA permits cover mine pit dewatering, stormwater and stockpile runoff, carbon injection to reduce mercury emissions and wetland mitigation for the additional wetland impacts from stormwater management.
The agency said decisions on the water and air permits could come as soon as April. The wetland permits must also go through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and there was no timeline estimate available.
Comments can be submitted online. Comments on the wetland permit close Jan. 23, and comments on the air and water permits close Feb. 2.
While Mesabi Metallics' permits do cover water discharging from two pits on its property, the mine won't discharge water outside of the facility.
That means avoiding complications with one of the hottest environmental topics on the Iron Range: sulfates. The PCA announced in December it would study sulfate levels, as it continues to consider new wastewater permits for U.S. Steel’s Keetac mine.
Sulfate is generated throughout taconite mining and processing, and as mines reuse water, sulfate gets more concentrated. Most mines eventually discharge this water, prompting concerns about sulfate pollution.
Mesabi Metallics CEO Joe Broking said for one, the water bodies around the mine have relatively low sulfate levels.
“Nevertheless, we’ve taken the additional steps to have this very, very refined water collection system to ensure that we don’t discharge any of our water,” he said.
He said the mine is also conducting a trial of sulfate reduction technology, in case it ever needs to use it.
While other mines on the Range have been struggling — prompting the layoff of hundreds of miners last year and dozens more beginning Feb. 1 — Mesabi Metallics is well-positioned as domestic steel markets start to rebound.
Operating jobs are expected to be posted in the spring.
"We look forward to drawing on the experience of the region, and that will include some of these folks that have been laid off," Broking said.
The new mine will produce direct-reduction grade pellets to be fed into electric arc furnaces, rather than traditional blast furnaces. Most domestic steel is made using these electric furnaces — about 70% of U.S. production, expected to rise to 90% by 2040, according to the Steel Manufacturers Association.
The lower carbon footprint of this type of steelmaking gives it the nickname "green steel." Broking said the carbon emissions per ton of steel are cut by more than half.
A few other mines on the Range have the ability to make direct-reduction grade pellets, but it isn't economical for them, Broking said, and Mesabi Metallics will be the lowest cost producer of these pellets in the country.
"We're building the most modern, state-of-the-art plant in North America. One of the modern and state-of-the-art plants in the world," he said. " ... So we have a competitive cost advantage, and we're selling a high-value-added product into the marketplace."
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