Iron mining in the United States produced 48 million metric tons of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

in 2019. Iron ore was the third-highest-value metal mined in the United States, after gold and copper. Iron ore was mined from nine active mines and three reclamation operations in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Most of the iron ore was mined in northern Minnesota's

Mesabi Range The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district and mountain range in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iro ...

. Net exports (exports minus imports) were 3.9 million tons. US iron ore made up 2.5 percent of the total mined worldwide in 2015. Employment as of 2014 was 5,750 in iron mines and iron ore treatment plants. US iron ore mining is dominated by the

Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

banded iron formation Banded iron formations (BIFs; also called banded ironstone formations) are distinctive units of sedimentary rock consisting of alternating layers of iron oxides and iron-poor chert. They can be up to several hundred meters in thickness and e ...

deposits around Lake Superior, in Minnesota and Michigan; such deposits were also formerly mined in Wisconsin. For the past 50 years, more than 90 percent of US iron ore production has been mined from the Lake Superior deposits. None of the iron ore now mined in the US is “direct shipping” ore ready to be fed into the iron- and steel-making process. The ore is concentrated to raise the iron content before use. All the iron ore currently mined is from open pits.

Minnesota

Minnesota provides the great bulk of the iron ore mined in the US. Iron ore comes from seven open-pit mines, and two tailings reclamation operations, one in St. Louis County, and one in Itasca County. Three of the mines are operated by Cleveland Cliffs, two by

U.S. Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

, and one each by Mesabi Nugget Delaware LLC and Arcelor Mittal S.A. The two reclamation projects are operated by Magnetation, Inc.

Michigan

Michigan iron ore came from two active mines on the

Marquette Iron Range The Marquette Iron Range is a deposit of iron ore located in Marquette County, Michigan in the United States. The towns of Ishpeming and Negaunee developed as a result of mining this deposit. A smaller counterpart of Minnesota's Mesabi Range, t ...

: the Tilden Mine, and the Empire Mine, both operated by

Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CCI, formerly Cliffs Natural Resources) is an American steel manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. They specialize in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping a ...

. In 2014, the two mines produced 12.1 million tons of pelletized iron ore concentrate. In 2016 the Empire Mine was shut down.

Utah

The only recently operating iron mine in the US outside the Lake Superior area was the Iron Mountain mine, formerly called the Comstock-Mountain Lion mine, west of Cedar City, in

Iron County, Utah Iron County is a county in southwestern Utah, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 57,289. Its county seat is Parowan, and the largest city is Cedar City. The Cedar City, UT Micropolitan Statistical Area i ...

. The mine shut down in October 2014. Operated by CML Metals, Inc. the mine produced ore with 54% iron. The ore was treated onsite, producing a concentrate containing 65% iron. The concentrate was transported by rail to California, then shipped to China.

History of US iron ore mining

In common with other commodities, the history of iron mining in the United States includes a shift to larger but lower-grade ore deposits, a shift from underground to open-pit mining, and a shift from labor-intensive mining to highly mechanized mining. Although in 2014, the US mined only 1.8 percent of all iron ore mined worldwide, the US was previously a much larger factor in the world iron ore market. From 1937 through 1953, US iron ore made up more than a third of the world's iron ore production; the proportion of world iron ore mined in the US peaked in 1945 at 56 percent.

Colonial

Iron mining in the United States began in 1608, when a ship returning from the

Jamestown Colony The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about southwest of present-day Williamsburg. It was established by the L ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

carried a load of iron ore back to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The manufacturing of iron from ore likely began in 1622, in what is now

Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County is a County (United States), county located just south of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The county's borders are primarily defined by the James River to the north an ...

, but was halted when American Indians killed everyone in the establishment. John Winthrop, Jr. established an iron furnace at

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

(then part of

Braintree, Massachusetts Braintree () is a municipality in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is officially known as a town, but Braintree is a city with a mayor-council form of government, and it is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The populat ...

), which started making iron in 1644, but closed when it ran out of nearby ore in 1647. A more successful effort was established at Saugus, Massachusetts. Iron production in the 1700s was done with

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

, of which American forests could provide a seemingly endless supply. Numerous small iron mines supplied iron furnaces scattered throughout the colonies in the 1700s.

Bog iron Bog iron is a form of impure iron deposit that develops in bogs or swamps by the chemical or biochemical oxidation of iron carried in solution. In general, bog ores consist primarily of iron oxyhydroxides, commonly goethite (FeO(OH)). Iron-beari ...

ore common around the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

fed numerous iron furnaces in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and Virginia set up to export to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

Early republic

Although the bog iron ores mined in colonial days were widespread, the deposits were also small, and quickly exhausted. In the late 1700s the iron furnaces moved away from the bog iron ore of the coastal swamps, to larger iron ore deposits further inland. Inland locations also allowed the furnaces to be closer to sources of limestone, which was used as a flux in iron smelting. The proximity to larger ore deposits favored larger, more permanent iron smelters. Most US iron mining before 1850 took place in eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. New Jersey's principal iron ore district, at

Randolph Randolph may refer to: Places In the United States * Randolph, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Randolph, Arizona, a populated place * Randolph, California, a village merged into the city of Brea * Randolph, Illinois, an unincorporated com ...

, began mining in 1710. The Cornwall iron mine, the largest iron-producer in Pennsylvania, began mining in 1740. The Adirondack district of New York began mining in 1775. Starting about 1820, coke from

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

replaced charcoal as the fuel and reducing agent in iron furnaces. Coke has a higher crushing strength than charcoal, allowing larger smelting furnaces. Because iron and steel-making at the time consumed more coal than iron ore, the steel mills moved closer to the coal mines to minimize transportation costs. Although later overshadowed by production from the Lake Superior mines, iron ore mining in New Jersey and New York continued until the 1960s. Iron mining in Pennsylvania ended in 1973.

Lake Superior mining

Iron ore was discovered on the Marquette Range in 1844, and mining started in 1848. Mining increased after the opening of the ship canal at

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

provided cheap water transportation between the iron mines to the lower Great Lakes. The Lake Superior iron deposits were the largest ever discovered in the United States, and by the late 1800s, dominated American iron mining. The

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

iron ores occur in Precambrian

, in long, linear belts called iron ranges. After the Marquette Range in Michigan, iron ore was discovered in the Menominee Range (Michigan) in 1867, the

Gogebic Range The Gogebic Range is an elongated area of iron ore deposits located within a range of hills in northern Michigan and Wisconsin just south of Lake Superior. It extends from Lake Namakagon in Wisconsin eastward to Lake Gogebic in Michigan, or alm ...

(Michigan and Wisconsin) in 1884, Vermilion Range (Minnesota) in 1885,

(Minnesota) in 1890, and the

Cuyuna Range The Cuyuna Range is an inactive iron range to the southwest of the Mesabi Range, largely within Crow Wing County, Minnesota. It lies along a line between Brainerd, Minnesota, and Aitkin, Minnesota. The width ranges from 1 to 10 miles (1.6 to 1 ...

(Minnesota) in 1903. Prior to the start of iron mining on the Lake Superior iron ranges, US iron mining was done close to the iron furnaces. The large size of the Lake Superior deposits, and the access to cheap Great Lakes water transportation, enabled iron mining on a massive scale, located far from the iron furnaces. The Lake Superior iron ores, however, are located far from coal deposits, and the greater tonnage of coal required in steelmaking favored the location of furnaces closer to the coal mines. Favorable locations for steelworks using Lake Superior ore included Great Lakes ports such as

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, and

Gary Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;United States *Gary (Tampa), Florida *Gary, Ind ...

, as well as cities close to coal and with good water transportation, such as

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Although Lake Superior provides cheap shipping most of the year, from ports such as

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

and Marquette, shipping by water halts in the winter months, and most ore is stockpiled until shipping resumes in the spring. In the 1950s, the Lake Superior mines were running out of the high-grade “direct-shipping” ore. Experiments in concentrating the ores had been ongoing since the 1915. In 1954 the

hematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...

ore (

jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

, or jaspilite) began to be concentrated, and in 1956, the

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula . It is one of the iron oxide, oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetism, ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetization, magnetized to become a ...

ore (

taconite Taconite () is a variety of banded iron formation, an iron-bearing (over 15% iron) sedimentary rock, in which the iron minerals are interlayered with quartz, chert, or carbonate. The name ''taconyte'' was coined by Horace Vaughn Winchell (1865– ...

) was concentrated on a large scale. The concentrated ore is commonly formed into pellets for ease of handling. Through 1965, the Lake Superior iron ranges had produced 3.66 billion tons of ore, about 70 percent of which came from the Mesabi Range. Totals through 1965 were: :Mesabi Range 2,511 million tons :Marquette Range 339 million tons :Gogebic Range 323 million tons :Menominee Range 290 million tons : Vermilion Range 102 million tons :Cuyuna Range 100 million tons

Birmingham, Alabama

The largest production of US iron ore outside the Great Lakes districts was the

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

district. Sedimentary iron ore in the Red Mountain formation of

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

age was first used to make iron in 1864. Production was small until 1881, when major steelmaking began in Birmingham. The last iron mine shut down in 1975, after the district had produced 376 million long tons of ore.Lewis S. Dean
Minerals in the economy of Alabama 2007
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924023915/http://www.gsa.state.al.us/documents/misc_gsa/IS64RMinerals.pdf , date=2015-09-24 , Alabama Geological Survey, 2008.