Taconite productionIn 1933, the first cargo of taconite, a hard rock containing 25% - 30% iron, was shipped to the Ford Motor Company of River Rouge, Mich. The cargo had been produced 21 Jun 1922 by the Mesabi Iron Co. of Babbitt, Minn. The firm had begun operation in Nov 1919. Taconite is a low-grade ore containing only up to 30% magnetite and hematite as tiny particles scattered throughout a very tough variety of quartz called chert. The Mesabi Range, a giant area of low rolling hills in northeastern Minnesota is among the world's best known deposits of iron (discovered 1887). Mesabi is an Ojibwa name meaning "giant." After WW II, when other, higher grade iron ore had been depleted, an industrial method to exploit taconite ore was developed. |
