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Essar
Steel Minnesota LLC
555 W 27th Street Hibbing MN 55746
Telephone: 218-263-3331
Fax: 218-262-1497 Email: CorporateCommunications@EssarSteelMN.com
Essar Steel Minnesota is building a state-of-the-art Open Pit
Mining, Concentrator and Pellet Plant operation which will be followed by
a DRI plant and Slab Caster. Once operational, Essar Steel Minnesota will
be the first fully-integrated mine through steel-making facility in North
America. Our goal is to be the low cost producer of high quality steel.
We are located on the west end of the Mesabi Iron Range in northeastern
Minnesota, and are adjacent to the community of Nashwauk.
Essar Steel Minnesota is part of Essar Steel, a global producer of steel
with a footprint covering India, Canada, USA, Middle East and Asia. Essar
Steel is a fully integrated flat carbon steel manufacturer from iron ore
to ready-to-market products.
Our Story
Essar Steel Minnesota was acquired by Essar Steel Holdings Ltd in October
2007. Essar Steel is a global producer of steel with a footprint covering
India, Canada, USA, Middle East and Asia. It is a fully integrated flat
carbon steel manufacturer--from iron ore to ready-to-market products. Its
products find wide acceptance in highly discerning consumer sectors, such
as automotive, white goods, construction, engineering and shipbuilding.
It is India’s largest exporter of flat steel products and aims to reach
25 MTPA capacity by 2012.
The Essar Steel Minnesota project will be a conventional open pit mining,
concentrating and pellet plant operation followed by a DRI plant and slab
caster. The company has secured the rights to mine perhaps the only iron
ore body in North America capable of supporting low cost pellets. This unique
deposit contains very coarse grains of iron and silica, a waste material
that ends up in slag in the blast furnaces.
Large grain size is key because these coarse grains are easily—and economically—separated,
so the resulting pellets contain very little silica. At 1.5-1.6% silica,
Essar Steel Minnesota’s pellets compare very favorably to the Iron Range
average of about 5% silica. Pellets will be processed onsite into direct
reduced iron (DRI), an interim step in the company’s steelmaking process.
Low silica content is necessary because Essar Steel Minnesota will transform
DRI into steel in an electric arc furnace (EAF), a low cost steelmaking
method that cannot remove large amounts of silica.
Fact Sheet
Essar Steel Minnesota’s vertically integrated steel mill now can anticipate
significant advantages over conventional iron ore mining and blast furnace
operations, as well as mini-mill EAF facilities.
COST
Iron ore pellets will be turned into DRI, which will be fed hot into the
steelmaking furnace—saving energy and increasing productivity.
Coarse-grained ore makes recovering iron cheaper than in other pellet
plant operations.
Less handling means less damage to pellets and DRI, which will improve
yield.
Financial resources won’t be tied up in excess inventory.
Transportation will involve shipping a final product—not an iron ore
pellet with up to 30% waste that requires significant further processing.
With these advantages, Essar Steel Minnesota will be the lowest-cost
steel producer in the USA and potentially in North America
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
Energy savings in processing and transportation will result in significantly
fewer air emissions compared to traditional iron ore mining and steelmaking.
DRI will be produced with clean burning natural gas.
The electric arc furnace offers significant environmental improvements
over blast furnaces, which require coke—the making of which generates significant
air emissions and waste.
Because no external scrap will be used in making steel, there will be
no generation of waste often associated with contaminants found in scrap.
ECONOMICS
With access to rail, ship and trucking, Essar Steel Minnesota
can offer rapid product delivery to meet today’s just-in-time inventory
requirements— much quicker and at significantly lower cost than foreign
producers attempting to serve North American markets.
As the low cost producer, Essar Steel Minnesota will be sustainable over
the long term—positioned to weather the inevitable cycles in the steel markets
that higher cost producers cannot.
Mesabi Nugget
Nugget plant breaking its own production records
Manager: Settlement with MPCA is from legacy issues
By CHARLES RAMSAY Regional Editor, May 12, 2011
Mesabi Nugget http://www.steeldynamics.com
The Mesabi Nugget Delaware LLC, iron nugget facility is under construction
near Hoyt Lakes. Mesabi Nugget Delaware, LLC, is the world’s first commercial
iron nugget plant. Operation is scheduled to begin in 2009. Iron nuggets
produced at the facility will feed electric arc furnaces at Steel Dynamics,
Inc., in Butler, Ind.
Steel Dynamics, Inc., and Kobe Steel, Ltd., of Japan are partners in the
project. An iron nugget production technology pioneered by Kobe Steel, Ltd.,
and proven on a pilot scale at Northshore Mining Co. in Silver Bay, will
be used to produce the nuggets. Steel Dynamics says the plant will be capable,
at a favorable cost, of providing to its steel mills a domestic source of
iron units that are of equal or higher quality than purchased pig iron.
Additional iron nugget units may be constructed. Steel Dynamics has separately
acquired land at the site to re-open an iron mine and build a $165 million
facility to concentrate the ore as feed for the iron nugget plant. In addition
to producing a new product made from iron ore concentrate, the project will
create a significant number of new mining-related jobs and support suppliers
within the region.
Taxes paid by the operation would boost revenues to local units of government
and the state. The plant and mine are being developed at the site of the
former LTV Steel Mining Co. taconite plant, which closed in 2001.
Capital cost: $260 million (iron nugget plant), $165 million (mine)
Estimated permanent employment: 65 plus in 2009
Construction workers: 500
HOYT LAKES -- Mesabi Nugget is busy breaking its own production records
the past several months, and is looking to get near its 500,000-ton production
goal this year. The plant, which uses Kobe Steel’s unique IT3 technology
in making 97 percent-pure iron nuggets, produced 100,000 metric tons in March,
and then broke that total in April. The plant will shut down today for improvements
to its furnace lining and should be back up in a short time, a company news
release said. The company agreed last week to pay a $12,500 civil penalty
to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for alleged water quality violations
and “have since fulfilled all of the settlement’s required corrective actions,”
a May 2 MPCA statement said.
There is one customer for all of the plant’s output for now. “It’s all
internally consumed by our parent company, Steel Dynamics,” Mesabi Nugget
plant manager Jeff Hansen said Thursday. The mine’s output is expected to
go up as some of the fine-tuning to production goes on, he said. All nuggets
are shipped by rail to SDI in Indiana, while iron ore concentrate is received
from the Iron Range, Magnetation in Nashwauk and Northshore Mining in Babbitt
and Silver Bay. “We like to think of ourselves as the next generation of
miners,” Hansen explained.
Mesabi Nugget’s production may well be a trend for future mining on
the Range, as more and more steel producers nationally require purer iron
for their electric-arc furnaces. More than half of steel produced is from
electric-arc furnaces, not the older-style blast furnaces that taconite
plants shape their iron pellets for. Electric-arc steel furnaces require
high-quality metallic iron, as opposed to iron oxide, or taconite pellets.
Such nuggets are key for Minnesota, as that’s the growing part of the steel
market, Hansen said. “Minnesota ore hasn’t been able to penetrate the electric-arc
furnace market, until now.” When the worldwide economic recession hit in
2008, electric-arc furnaces were still producing steel when blast furnace
steelmakers shut down. Iron nugget production “offers a high level of stability,”
he added. Mesabi Nugget started production in January 2010, with the world’s
first plant using minority partner Kobe Steel’s technology. With the only
operating iron nugget plant running, if a problem develops, employees work
as a team to determine what the best solution is. “Really, it’s a trial
and error process,” Hansen said. Adjustments have been made as nugget production
continued in 2010, with some stops for fine-tuning. The plant shut down for
about two weeks in November for maintenance before work resumed. Production
for all of 2010 totaled 67,000 metric tons. Some equipment issues cropped
up in January, but then production ramped up in February. The plant combines
four traditionally separate processes into one: The blast furnace, cinter
plant, coke oven and pellet plant. The process adds to energy efficiency,
environmental benefits and cost savings. An agglomerator process is included
for nuggets, something like part of taconite pellet production, but the feedstock
is 50 percent coal, which helps inject carbon which adds to the rotary-furnace
process.
“That chemical reaction is required,” Hansen noted, as it
takes iron oxide to a metallic product. The company is still hiring, and in
perhaps the next year or so officials are looking to start up iron ore mining
to produce their own concentrate. Several more plants may be started up in
the future as well. Two more plants on the Range is “quite a ways off,” Hansen
said. “It’s possible. A lot of that hinges on the success of the product.
Low-cost concentrate is critical.” Having a domestic source for iron nuggets
on the Iron Range that is “relatively close” to electric-arc steel producers
like SDI in Indiana “is an advantage,” he added. So far there have been
inquiries but no other customers about iron nuggets. “There certainly is
a significant amount of interest in what we’re doing in the iron and steel
industry,” Hansen said. Regarding the stipulation agreement with the MPCA,
which said the plant’s water output did not meet effluent limits and volume
restrictions, Hansen said, “We take our environmental responsibility seriously.”
Of the $300 million spent by backers of the Mesabi Nugget project, upwards
of $100 million was spent on environmental safety, such as heat recovery,
controlled air emissions, a wet scrubber and “baghouse,” as well as wastewater
treatment. “These are legacy issues associated with the pit water,” Hansen
said of the effluent. The plant is using the old pit No. 1 of the former
LTV Mining Co. for its water needs. “It wasn’t as a result of our operation,”
he said. Hansen commended the backers of the project, who decided to proceed
with plant construction in the middle of the economic recession. More than
2,000 workers were involved in construction at one point or another, for
a million worker-hours of construction. If Mesabi Nugget is producing at
3/4 capacity of its annual capacity for 500,000 tons this year, “that would
be good,” Hansen said, and could help them meet their goal in 2012.
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United Taconite Cleveland-Cliffs,
Inc
United Taconite LLC http://www.cleveland-cliffs.com
6 million tons per year from 5.3 million tons.
United Taconite LLC is proposing to significantly
reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, mercury and other air pollutants while
increasing production of taconite pellets under a $104 million improvement
project at United Taconite’s processing plant in Forbes, Minnesota.
The Green Production Project includes an estimated $35 million for retrofitting
the plant to burn lower-emitting fuels and adding new emission control equipment.
Upgrades to United Taconite’s concentrator and pellet plant equipment will
allow an increase in taconite pellet production to 6 million tons per year
from 5.3 million tons. Twenty-four new jobs will be added.
The project allows United Taconite to use lower emission fuels.
Currently, United Taconite uses a combination of fuels that includes natural
gas, fuel oil, petroleum coke and Eastern coal. The Green Production Project
will allow enhanced fuel blending and the use of lower-emitting fuels, resulting
in substantially less use of petroleum coke and natural gas in favor of
low sulfur coal and biomass.
The renovations will allow United Taconite to use Renewafuel,
a next-generation, carbon-neutral biofuel with substantially fewer greenhouse
gas, sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions than fossil fuels. When all the
improvements are in place, United Taconite is expected to have the lowest
combined emissions per ton of taconite produced of any facility operating
in Minnesota.
Construction will begin after the approval of permit amendments filed with
the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. United Taconite, which includes
a mine in Eveleth, Minnesota, employs about 557 employees and has an annual
payroll, including benefits, of about $50 million. The taconite facility
is wholly owned by Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc.
Capital cost: $104 million Estimated permanent employment: 24
Construction workers: Not yet available
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USS Keetac
mine
U. S. Steel is also involved in railroad and barge transportation
services
through its Transtar, Inc. subsidiary. Keetac 1 Mine Road
Keewatin, MN 55753 218-778-8700
KeeTac expansion moves forward
DNR makes decision on environmental review
Published: Monday, January 3, 2011
KEEWATIN — One of the two necessary agencies has determined
the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed KeeTac mine
expansion adequate. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
announced its determination Thursday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must
still issue its own separate and independent decision on the final EIS.
Estimated to begin in 2012 or 2013, the KeeTac project would expand the existing
mine and restart an idle production line. The proposed expansion would increase
Keetac’s annual pellet production output by 3.6 million tons, to a total
of 9.6 million tons per year, according to the DNR.
“We are very happy that this thorough review process paved the way for
what could be an important project for northern Minnesota,” DNR Commissioner
Mark Holsten said in a release. “If the proposed project proceeds, it will
mean a boost in employment on the Range.” The EIS review process began in
the spring of 2008. The process identified several opportunities for reductions
in the project’s environmental impacts, including avoiding the loss of 100
acres of wetlands. Once the final EIS has been determined adequate by both
the DNR and Army Corps of Engineers, state permits may be issued for the
proposed project — if it complies with state regulations.
About U. S. Steel
United States Steel Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh,
Pa., is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in
the United States, Canada and Central Europe and an annual raw steelmaking
capability of 31.7 million net tons. The company manufactures a wide range
of value-added steel sheet and tubular products for the automotive, appliance,
container, industrial machinery, construction, and oil and gas industries.
U. S. Steel’s integrated steel facilities include Gary Works,
which is made up of Gary Works in Gary, Ind., East Chicago, Ind., and the
Midwest Plant in Portage, Ind.; Great Lakes Works in Ecorse and River Rouge,
Mich.; Mon Valley Works, which includes the Edgar Thomson Plant and the
Irvin Plant near Pittsburgh, Pa., and the Fairless Plant near Philadelphia,
Pa.; Granite City Works in Granite City, Ill.; Fairfield Works in Fairfield,
Ala.; Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario, and Hamilton Works in Hamilton,
Ontario, both of which make up U. S. Steel Canada;
U. S. Steel Košice in the Slovak Republic; and U. S. Steel Serbia
in the Republic of Serbia.
U. S. Steel is also involved in several steel finishing joint
ventures in the United States, Brazil, Canada and Mexico.
U. S. Steel prides itself on being a leader
in both process and product technology and has three research and development
facilities dedicated to advancing the boundaries of steelmaking: the Research
and Technology Center in Munhall, Pa.; the Automotive Center, a research
and sales facility in Troy, Mich.; and USSE Research in Košice.
U. S. Steel has tubular operations in Bellville, Houston, Hughes
Springs, and Lone Star Texas; Pine Bluff, Ark.; Birmingham, Ala.; Lorain,
Ohio; and McKeesport, Pa. The company also maintains tubular products sales
offices in Denver, Co., Houston, and Calgary, Alberta Canada and operates
the Innovation and Technology Center in Houston.
U. S. Steel produces coke at Mon Valley Works’ Clairton Plant
near Pittsburgh as well as at Gary Works, Granite City Works, Lake Erie
Works, Hamilton Works and U. S. Steel Košice. The company operates two iron
ore mines through its Minnesota Ore Operations on the Mesabi Iron Range in
northern Minnesota: one in Mt. Iron (Minntac) and one in Keewatin (Keetac).
Both mine an iron-bearing rock called taconite and process it into concentrated
iron ore pellets, which are converted to liquid iron in the company’s blast
furnaces.
USS Keetac http://www.ussteel.com
A United States Steel Corp. capital investment program at its
Minnesota Ore Operations Keetac iron ore pellet production facility in Keewatin
will boost production by 3.6 million tons per year. The program would increase
production, enhance overall environmental performance, support the facility’s
long-term viability, and create construction jobs and new permanent jobs.
It would take about 36 months after the permitting
process to complete and modernize a pellet production line that has been
idle at the plant since 1980. Restarting the line would involve energy-efficient
technologies in addition to new emission controls to exceed current environmental
standards. Annual production capacity would increase to 9.6 million tons,
making it the second largest taconite plant on Minnesota’s Iron Range.
In addition to increasing production and improving environmental
standards, there will be upgrades to mining, concentrating, and agglomerating
processes to support the increased production requirements. The program
includes the purchase of additional mining equipment and the installation
of additional processing equipment. Minnesota Ore Operations, which includes
Keetac and Minntac Mine in Mountain Iron, is Minnesota’s largest producer
of iron ore pellets, the key ingredient used to make steel.
The production of additional iron ore pellets benefits local
communities and the state through the payment of taconite taxes.
Capital cost: More than $300 million Estimated permanent employment:
75 Construction workers: 500
U. S. Steel is also involved in railroad and barge transportation
services through its Transtar, Inc. subsidiary and real estate operations
through its USS Real Estate division.
Every day, U. S. Steel employees around the world dedicate themselves
to putting our five core values into action. Safety is first – it’s our
company’s top priority. Our other core values are diversity and inclusion;
environmental stewardship; focus on cost, quality and customer; and results
and accountability. Focusing on these values guides our highly skilled workforce
toward realizing our Vision: Making Steel. World Competitive. Building Value.
U. S. Steel’s operations are efficient and high tech, and our
customer focus is intense. We’ve been making steel for more than 100 years,
always with an eye to serving our customers’ needs in the most cost-effective
ways possible.
Companies that want to be competitive in an increasingly global
marketplace must have a global outlook and presence. U. S. Steel continually
looks for opportunities to strengthen our existing presence in the global
arena and strives to meet and set world-class standards in everything we
do.
At U. S. Steel, creating value for our stakeholders is a priority.
To ensure our long-term success, we aim to build value for our customers,
employees, shareholders, creditors, and the communities in which we operate
using the same responsible approach that has positioned us as a leader in
our industry.
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United States Steel Corporation
Minnesota Ore Operations
Overview U. S. Steel’s Minnesota Ore Operations, located on the Mesabi
Iron Range in northern Minnesota, is composed of two facilities: Minntac
in Mt. Iron and Keetac in Keewatin. At these facilities, iron-bearing rock
called taconite is mined and processed into iron ore pellets for use in
U. S. Steel’s steelmaking facilities. Annual production capability at Minntac
is approximately 16 million net tons of pellets, while Keetac can produce
approximately six million net tons of pellets each year.
Contact Information
United States Steel Corporation - Minnesota Ore Operations Minntac
8819 Old Highway 169 Mt. Iron, MN 55768 1-800-752-7299
Keetac 1 Mine Road Keewatin, MN 55753 218-778-8700
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Thompson
Cliffs Canada
Expected ramp up of Bloom Lake to 8 million
metric tons and further expansion to 16 million metric tons.
Cliffs has completed the acquisition of Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines
Limited, an emerging world-class iron ore producer located in Eastern Canada,
for C$4.9 billion. Cliffs is enthusiastic about expanding its investment
in Eastern Canada, where it has for decades operated the Wabush-Scully mine
and Pointe Noire pellet plant and port.
The acquisition provides Cliffs with strategically important
links to deep-sea ports in Sept-Îles, Québec and customers of seaborne product,
helping Cliffs gain increased pricing flexibility. The Consolidated Thompson
acquisition complements Cliffs’ strategy and further solidifies its position
among the world’s top ten iron ore producers.
Cliffs’ Acquisition of Consolidated Thompson:
is part of Cliffs’ strategic plan to build scale by owning expandable
and exportable steelmaking raw material assets serving the world’s emerging
economies.
provides Cliffs the opportunity to build and grow strong business
relationships with Consolidated Thompson’s current customers, along with
acquiring its premium assets.
is good for Cliffs as it renews Cliffs’ culture of ambitious
growth and performance.
is good for Consolidated Thompson employees as all properties
and employees are considered essential to Cliffs’ growth plans in Eastern
Canada.
is good for Canada as it represents job growth and new investment
by a company committed to sustainable development.
Cliffs’ Investment in Eastern Canada Includes:
An anticipated half a billion dollars in capital and equipment
over the next three years.
Expansion plans at Wabush Mines with the intent to increase
annual capacity, continue to maximize production and extend the life of
the Scully mine.
Capital improvement plans underway at the Pointe Noire port facilities.
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The bedrock of Minnesota Mining
Critical state support for iron ore and precious metals grows
strong industries
Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources: early 1980s forms the Iron
Ore Cooperative to fund research to improve iron ore and taconite
processing.
Administered by DNR’s Division of Lands and Minerals,
the Cooperative is made up of taconite industry and minerals
research lab representatives. NRRI researchers serve on subcommittees.
Taconite plants suggest research projects
that they need done
Taconite mining and processing into pellets is a unique industry
in the U.S. relegated to specific areas of Minnesota and Michigan. But it
is also large, vital and complex. Ongoing research to improve the process
is critical to keep production costs down and quality high. So it makes
sense that the three major taconite producers in North America — Cliffs
Natural Resources, U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal — work together to share
research information.
This cooperative effort was especially crucial during the early 1980s recession
when steel production in the U.S. was grinding to a halt and demand for
taconite pellets plummeted. It was then that the Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources formed the Iron Ore Cooperative
to fund research to improve iron ore and taconite processing.
Administered by the DNR’s Division of Lands and Minerals, the Cooperative
is made up of taconite industry and minerals research lab representatives.
NRRI researchers Blair Benner, Dave Englund and Dick Kiesel
serve on subcommittees.
NRRI_minerals_ lab_Coleraine
“The taconite plants suggest research projects that they need done,” explained
Dave Hendrickson, director of NRRI’s minerals lab in Coleraine. “Requests
for research proposals are sent out and responded to, and the projects are
given to a research organization. It’s a very competitive process.”
The Iron Ore Cooperative addresses the specific
and unique needs of the taconite companies with shared research. And because
NRRI works hand-in-glove with the mining industry, it is
able to consistently anticipate research needs, and frequently gets chosen
to conduct the research.
Currently, NRRI minerals
researchers are working on three projects funded by the Iron
Ore Cooperative.
Kiesel is working to provide taconite plants a cost-effective
biomass replacement for their coal- fueled induration furnaces. He has a
pilot scale torrefaction machine that produces a charred wood product with
properties similar to coal. Kiesel is also working to improve pellet quality
before and after they’re fired. His lab-scale research delves into the process
of mixing the binder and the taconite concentrate, and whether high intensity
mixing equipment will be more effective. After all the mixing and high-heat
cooking, the pellets need to be cooled. Englund’s research uses computer
models to find the most cost-effective balance between the production rate
and energy efficiency of the cooling process.
Since its inception, the Iron
Ore Cooperative has provided public investment of approximately $600,000
per biennium, matched by about $400,000 in private funds over the same period,
according to the DNR.
While taconite received its due attention, industry leaders and legislators
in the 1980s realized that the singular focus on iron ore mining wasn’t
economically wise for Northern Minnesota. In 1987, a Minerals
Diversification Plan was accepted by the state legislature and funding
was established to stimulate the development of copper, nickel and other
precious metals mining. NRRI’s Economic Geology Group played
a lead role in this effort.
“When NRRI was established, we were looking at diversifying Minnesota’s
mineral potential,” said Thys Johnson, former director of NRRI’s Center
for Applied Research and Technology Development. “(Geologist) Steve Hauck
and I talked to people and put together a big program for the
Minerals Diversification Fund to get things going
in Minnesota.”
This early funding has led to today’s detailed
understanding of the state’s Duluth Complex,
a valuable deposit of copper, nickel and platinum group elements
poised for economic development.
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