Nuggets of News January 13, 1940 — Shipments of iron ore from the Lake Superior district during the season of 1940 may set a new record. The peak season was 1916 when they amounted to 66,902,778 gross tons. That was during the World War, and it is recalled that the producers designed shipping 70,000,000 tons in 1917. But there was a late opening of interlake navigation in 1917 and much ice caused delays, which it was afterwards estimated, cost the season 5 million tons. Again there is war in Europe, and while its length and importance as a stimulant of business and industry in the United States are unknown quantities for the current year, the outlook is good in any event. The blast furnaces in the United states are consuming ore at the rate of more than 60 million tons annually. January 7, 1950 – Lake Superior is the largest body of fresh water in the world, also one of the deepest. The term superior referring to its position as the upper lake of the five Great Lakes of North America was first used according to Grace Lee Nute in the Jesuit Relation of
By Alice Blancher
1647-1648. The lake is 360 miles long and has a maximum width of 160 miles with an area of about 32,000 square miles. Its normal surface level is 602 feet above sea level and the greatest depth 1,290 feet. Another fact of importance is occurrence of the lake in the trough of a great syncline or down fold in the rocks. This structure of the rocks has had an important effect on the origin of the lake. January 23, 1960 – When you realize that 15 to 20% of the total cost of making a ton of finished steel is iron ore, it is obvious that steel companies, cannot afford to be too sentimental about where their ore comes from. The steel company with the lowest cost ore has too much advantage. Of course, every orebody is different. “Mother Nature” put it down differently all over the world. It can be mined from open pits or from underground mines. Some of it has to be washed or sink-floated. Other deposits have to be ground very fine for concentration and subsequent agglomeration. So many different conditions surround each deposit that it
Cliffs Natural Resources continued from page 15
Iron Ore Price Report North American Market (LTU) COMPANY ORE TYPE IRON UNIT
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc Cleveland-Cliffs Inc
Pellets, FOB Michigan Pellets, FOB Minnesota
$1.25 $1.47
Every project is unique. Even changing the swing of a door can bring its own set of obstacles and solutions. Big or small, the success of every project is a result of a contractor who looks at all the angles. It is determined by a contractor who carefully plans every aspect of the job before the first tool is even taken out of the box. The success of any project comes in the value
CR Meyer brings by minimizing your risk at every point in the process.
800.236.6650 / crmeyer.com / info@crmeyer.com 218.245.2766 / FX 218.245.3502 / 103 Industrial Dr / Coleraine MN
18
SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW
is most difficult to compare the many factors that go into final costs, such as labor, taxes, royalties, equipment and interest. For example, labor is a very high part of the cost of underground ore (about 65% in Michigan) whereas in South America the percent of labor to total cost is very low. In the Lake Superior area, state and federal taxes are a major cost factor, but in Canada mining receives very preferential tax treatment. The capital required and interest costs are extremely high on pellet properties, as well as many of the large foreign developments, but for the open pits of Minnesota, capital and interest is relatively low. Transportation charges from a mine on the Mesabi to a steel plant in the Pittsburgh area are $6.56 per gross ton which is 46% of the delivered market price. This cost is made up of $1.28 for the rail haul from the mine to the head of the lakes. $2 for the lake haul, 66 cents for the loading and unloading, and $2.62 for the line haul ex-lake to Pittsburgh.
ı
JANUARY 2010
PER GROSS TON IRON CONTENT
PER TON AT 64% REPORTING DATE
$62.72 $64.64
12/17/08 12/17/08
Joseph Carrabba, Cliffs’ chairman, president and CEO, said, “This long-term project is consistent with Cliffs’ stated strategy to broaden its mineral diversification and opens the door to a new universe of customers. In addition to furnishing the raw material needs of carbon steel producers, we will become a supplier to producers of stainless steel. “Ferrochrome is imported by the world’s fastest growing steel markets, and many countries have categorized it as a strategic resource. We believe this discovery represents one of the premier chromite deposits in the world. Given the operation’s unique location, our objective will be to supply ferrochrome to stainless steel producers around the world.” A formal study of the chromium deposits will begin in early 2010 and is expected to be completed in the first half of the year. The study will meet industry standards and be comparable to an NI 43-101 Technical Report or a Joint Ore Resource Committee (JORC) assessment of the mineral resource.
