Cleveland-Cliffs Celebrates $100 Million North Shore Mining Expansion Project

Expansion to is expected to attract jobs for the industry.

SILVER BAY, Minn – A $100 million expansion project for North Shore Mining is officially complete.

This major investment is intended to help support Cleveland Cliffs goal to create large scale production of what is called low silica DR–grade iron ore pellets.

The company is optimistic about the new opportunities this expansion can bring.

Cleveland– Cliffs celebrated the completion of the expansion  with those who supported the process including Congressman Pete Stauber and Former Congressman Rick Nolan.

The one hundred million dollar project, which began construction in May 2018, consisted of updating the facility, which no longer fit their needs to keep growing.

State officials that took an interest in the project believe the North Shore Mining expansion is a stepping stone to help build a future for what is often considered a declining industry.

“They have literally put miners back to work and made massive investments to provide more jobs for more people in mining for 100 years in to the future. That helps our mining, our national economy, national security, and our community,” said former Congressman Rick Nolan.

About three thousand feet of new conveyors have been installed.

More than 15 concentrators were also updated including three which have not been active since the 1980’s.

And new processing equipment was added to help maximize productivity of their product line of DR–grade iron pellets

Cleveland–Cliffs CEO says the expansion also opens the door to sell to third parties.

But there is an exception when deciding who to sell to.

“We are going to sell to producers of HBI or DRI in house. We are not going to sell to a plant or anyone that is going to come try to compete against us,” said Lourenco Goncalves.

The project created 150 construction jobs.

Now that construction is complete, the expansion will not add any new full time jobs at the North Shore plant.

But the goal is to continue attracting jobs for the future of the industry.

The upgrades to the plant will now allow for the production of more than 3 million tons of iron pellets.

Cleveland–Cliffs is also investing in a nearly $1 billion project for a new plant in Toledo, Ohio.

That plant is expected to be operational by 2020.