This morning, U.S. Steel announced 700 impending layoffs at MinnTac, the Iron Range's largest taconite plant. U.S. Steel U.S. Steel to idle Keewatin Taconite, affecting 400 workers the idling of its Keewatin Taconite property on the western Mesabi. The MinnTac layoffs are slated to begin June 1.
I had a conversation with a construction worker who was on a crew at MinnTac recently. He was amazed at how much ore was stockpiled on site and told me that it didn't look good. You can't always believe what a company says, but you'd better believe their supply and demand issues.
If you've read much about mines this spring, it's probably been in context of the debate over wild rice sulfate rules and new legislation drafted to help mines like MinnTac. My Sunday commentary explained that this focus overlooks a much bigger problem in North American mining and the economy of Northern Minnesota.
Meantime, the grim news from U.S. Steel's website:
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