AMERICA
First Shipment of Iron Ore was 136 years-ago On July 31, 1884, 10 wood ore cars and trucks holding 20 bunches left the Minnesota Mine in Soudan en route to 2 Harbors, 68-miles via the northeastern Minnesota wilderness. 24 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW September 2020
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ortions of ore rattled like hail storm right into the cars as individuals on the docks competed for the honor of packing the first item," the late Iron Variety chronicler Marvin G. Lamppa mentioned in his publication "Minnesota's Iron Country." It was the first shipment of iron ore from the Vermilion Range, part of Minnesota's renowned Iron Array. "Whatever began as an open pit," claimed Jim Essig, Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine
