Cliff's Natural Resources Northshore Mine

 industrial area, mining

 Upload a photo

Northshore Mining Company, which originally operated as Reserve Mining Company, was the first taconite processing facility in North America when it opened in 1955. Northshore Mining Company is located in northeastern Minnesota, with mining facilities near Babbitt, Minnesota on the northeastern end of the Mesabi iron formation. Northshore’s processing facilities are located in Silver Bay, Minnesota, near Lake Superior. A 47-mile long company-owned railroad connects the mine and processing facilities.

Northshore Mining Company has a long history. Pilot work leading to the eventual development of Reserve Mining Company began near the Babbitt mine site in 1916. The Silver Bay plant started in 1955, and was doubled in capacity (10 million tons per year) in 1963. Modern air emission controls and on-land tailings disposal were added in 1980.

After Reserve filed for bankruptcy in 1986, the plant was downsized to 4.8 million tons per year capacity and reopened in 1990 as Northshore Mining Company. Cleveland-Cliffs (now Cliffs Natural Resources) purchased the property from Cyprus Minerals in 1994, and has 100% ownership.

www.cliffsnaturalresources.com/Operations/NAIO/Pages/No...