The NorthMet Project is positioned to play a crucial role in strengthening U.S. energy and national security. It will help unlock a secure, domestic supply of copper, nickel and cobalt, essential to power grid infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and modern technologies. As global competition for these resources intensifies, developing a homegrown supply from a globally significant deposit reduces reliance on foreign sources and helps reinforce America’s supply chain resilience.
NorthMet is located in the Duluth Complex, a formation adjacent to the Iron Range that holds one of the world’s largest known accumulations of metals. It sits within an established mining zone, with existing infrastructure and resources such as:
Over its 16-year permitted life, NorthMet will yield metals that are vital to our energy independence.
The project will use existing brownfield plant locations to minimize environmental and land use, and when in operation, will clean up water quality issues from legacy iron ore mining and processing, leading to net reductions in loading of mercury and sulfate in the St. Louis River.
The legacy iron ore facility was the subject of a large-scale recycle project, in which 64 rod and ball mills were salvaged and the interior of the quarter mile-long concentrator underwent demolition in anticipation of NorthMet’s eventual sanctioning and the returning the building to beneficial use. Members of Operating Engineers Local 49 played an instrumental role in the massive salvage and recycle of the former LTV Steel concentrator.
Upon permitting approval, NewRange can build and operate a 40,000 tons per day, open pit mining operation that will produce copper and nickel-copper concentrates.
NorthMet will create more than 1,000 jobs, revitalizing the economy of a region that was built on iron ore and taconite mining.
The project is expected to infuse more than $1 billion and 2 million hours into construction efforts, much of which includes rehabilitating an existing iron ore processing site.
NorthMet will create more than 1,000 jobs, revitalizing the economy of a region that was built on iron ore and taconite mining.
The project is expected to infuse more than $1 billion and 2 million hours into construction efforts, much of which includes rehabilitating an existing iron ore processing site.
Plans have been permitted to return the project site to as much of its natural state as possible and provide financial assurances to cover the costs of doing so. These financial protections safeguard taxpayers from any of the costs associated with closure, reclamation and long-term maintenance of the site in the unlikely event the company is unable to do it.
