Mesabi Metallics plans to invest $18 billion to integrate its Minnesota iron ore operations with a new Iowa steelmaking complex using hot direct-reduced iron (DRI) and electric arc furnace (EAF) technology. The integrated operation will establish a domestic supply chain for steel serving the automotive, defense, shipbuilding, energy, infrastructure, appliance, and other manufacturing sectors.
The company will invest $15 billion to build the Iowa complex, in addition to approximately $3 billion being spent to complete its iron ore mine and pellet operation in Nashwauk, Minnesota, which will supply iron ore and direct-reduction-grade pellets to the new steelmaking facility.
Mesabi Metallics’ Minnesota mine will produce Patriot Pellet, the company’s DR-grade iron ore pellet engineered for EAF steelmaking. More than 1,500 construction workers and over 200 full-time employees are currently working at the mine, with 350 full-time positions expected once the fully operational.
At the Iowa complex, DRI technology will remove oxygen from the Minnesota iron ore at temperatures below its melting point to create solid metallic iron. The DRI will then be fed into electric arc furnaces while still hot, reducing the energy required to melt the material and improving the efficiency and productivity of the steelmaking process.
The facility’s EAFs will use a mixture of hot iron produced by the plant’s DRI process and scrap steel. According to the company, the DRI-EAF configuration will reduce energy use and emissions compared with traditional blast furnace steelmaking.
Construction of the Iowa complex is expected to create more than 6,000 jobs. Once operational, the facility is expected to employ at least 1,750 full-time workers. Mesabi Metallics estimates the project will generate $95 billion in total economic output during construction and the first 10 years of full operations.
Press release is available in its original form here.
