A U.S. bankruptcy trustee said she approves of the sale of Magnetation's Plant 2 iron processing facility in Bovey, Minn., for $1.7 million, according to court documents filed this week.
In an affidavit, bankruptcy trustee Nauni Manty said that MJM Minerals LLC, "a good faith buyer," was the successful bidder for the Plant 2 operation in Bovey.
If the final sale is approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Paul, it would put Magnetation/ERP Iron Ore one step closer to exiting bankruptcy. The former Magnetation filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and was bought by the Tom Clarke-controlled ERP Iron Ore in 2017. ERP filed for bankruptcy last year without restoring operations.
Earlier this month, the judge agreed to sell Magnetation's Plant 1 in Keewatin and its Jessie Load-out rail center near Grand Rapids to the newly formed Prairie River Minerals for $1.95 million. Wednesday, Bankruptcy Judge William Fisher issued an order allowing Prairie River Minerals to assume the project's contract and lease needed for scram mining surface access. That lease had been held by General Waste Disposal and Recovery Services.
Prairie River Minerals partner and former Minnesota legislator Tom Anzelc said in an interview Monday that Prairie River is interested in buying some of the assets from the defunct Plant 2 operation.
Any future asset sales, however, would be held separately and any discussions have yet to take place, Anzelc said. The ultimate goal is for Prairie River Minerals to harvest and process 1 million tons of high-quality iron ore each year from scrap-ore piles left on the Iron Range in the 1930s and 1940s.
The court is still considering bids for Magnetation/ERP's Plant 4 in Grand Rapids.
Dee DePass
