Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials told Mesabi Metallics on Wednesday that it failed to meet more conditions of an amended mineral lease agreement, striking the agencyâs most forceful tone to date on the companyâs erratic track record in Nashwauk.
The letter, obtained by the Mesabi Tribune, came on the same day Mesabi Metallics introduced its new public figurehead for the project, Larry Sutherland, who alongside parent company Essar Global said they would ask for a stay on the lease termination process and claimed another $100 million in cash would be available within 48 hours.
Assistant DNR Commissioner Jess Richards wrote in the Wednesday letter that the agency was still completing a review of the documents, but added it had enough to determine that Essarâs debt agreement was contingency based, with a non-credible lender, and claimed the parent company was holding $100 million hostage until the DNR certified the lease amendment.
A clash of American steel titans could now define the next generation of mining on Minnesotaâs Iron Range, as U.S. Steel emerged Thursday with interest in the Nashwauk mineral leases long pursued by industry rival Cleveland-Cliffs.
Their interest comes a week after state officials said they initiated a lease termination process with Mesabi Metallics, the Essar Global-controlled company that has failed to develop the Nashwauk site since 2008, fueling speculation that Cliffs was next in line to gain control of the stateâs minerals.
U.S. Steelâs seemingly sudden interest could complicate matters for the state Department of Natural Resources and Executive Council as they weigh the future of the embattled project. Cliffs has been an outspoken suitor of the state leases for several years, while U.S. Steel had not publicly acknowledged interest in the property in recent years.
Steel and iron ore producer Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., is ready to take the keys to the long-languishing mammoth iron ore project near Nashwauk.
Several Iron Range legislators would like nothing better than to see the company in the driver s seat.
âThey ve been saying for quite some time now that if they get the leases and get control of the property, they would do a project there,â Sen. David Tomassoni of Chisholm said. âI think what they re saying is real.â
Hours after the state of Minnesota announced action to begin terminating state mineral leases awarded to Mesabi Metallics at the site, Cleveland-Cliffs President and Chief Executive Officer Lourenco Goncalves responded to the state s action.
In the late 1940s, my maternal grandfather, a widower, bought a cabin on Swan Lake south of Nashwauk. It soon became his year-round home, having sold the long-time family home
IRRB OKs loan for steel plant
Minnesota s largest industrial project has crossed one more hurdle. The Iron Range Resources Board on Tuesday approved a new loan agreement with Minnesota Steel Industries LLC, a move that officials of the steel company said would help finalize f.
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Minnesota s largest industrial project has crossed one more hurdle.
The Iron Range Resources Board on Tuesday approved a new loan agreement with Minnesota Steel Industries LLC, a move that officials of the steel company said would help finalize financial closure of the mammoth project.
The board, on a 9-0 vote, approved an agreement under which Iron Range Resources would receive $6 million from the Bank of India, New York, should a $6 million IRR loan to the $1.6 billion steelmaking project go into default.