Mesabi Metallics — a controversial project that’s been in the works for more than two decades and could be the first new taconite mine in Minnesota in nearly 50 years — is once again bringing hopes of economic revival to the Iron Range. Mining companies have eyed the iron ore deposits at the Mesabi site for decades, in an area called the Butler Corridor between Nashwauk and Calumet, where Mesabi Metallics CEO Larry Sutherland estimates there’s 2 billion tons of crude ore still underground. |