Sometime it feels like the year just flies by. But so much has happened, so let’s recap for you.
JANUARY: President Trump took the oath of office for a second time. That first month, he signed an executive order about unleashing American energy. This is focused on mining and mineral exploration.
FEBRUARY: Trump announced Nippon won’t buy U.S. Steel, but instead will invest heavily. Also, he share there would be a 25% tariff on steel. But it won’t go into effect until March.
MARCH: Major news for the industry. Cleveland-Cliffs announced layoffs for Minorca and Hibtac due to a backlog of pellets and a slowdown in the auto industry. It meant hundreds of families would be dealing with uncertainty. The DNR started the Canisteo Outflow Project, which uses gravity to direct water into the Prairie River.
APRIL: The annual SME Conference gave hundreds of mining professionals a chance to mix and mingle and learn. Educators also had the chance. President Trump ordered a new review of the Nippon deal. WDIO took our first trip to the Pulsar Helium site near Babbitt.
MAY: A celebration for the new visitor center at the Hibbing Mine View. U.S. Steel donated $65,000 to the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Hibbing Chisholm group, to help clean up gravestones of veterans in Hibbing.
JUNE: Lawmakers signed off on an unemployment extension for the hundreds of steelworkers who were laid off this spring. This will take them through the end of May, 2026. A trip to the Talon Metals office in Tamarack, where they have made changes to their design. A tunnel will bring the ore up directly into an enclosed building at the surface. President Trump approved the U.S. Steel and Nippon deal, as long as certain conditions are met. And the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota’s Day of Action helped neighbors in Nashwauk. U.S. Steel was the presenting sponsor.
JULY: U.S. Steel signed on to sponsor the 2025 Pan Continental Curling Championships. We learn that a land lease expiring in 2049 means the current Minnesota Discovery Center will have to move. But not for decades.
AUGUST: We visit the Calumet Reclamation Project, which is repurposing the stockpiles from the Hill Annex mine. And a deeper look at the sulfate standard challenges that the industry is focused on. Keetac is facing a 2030 deadline to meet the 10 parts per million standard for Hay Lake.
SEPTEMBER: The start of the school year means a new school for Nashwauk-Keewatin, which is on land donated by U.S. Steel. Steelworkers and mining leaders turned up in force to a hearing about the sulfate standard. Minntac started using their new, state of the art fire truck. Steelworkers mourned the loss of Leo Gerard, the longest serving leader in the union’s history.
OCTOBER: The first Better in Our Backyard Mining and Energy Expo took place at the Mall of America. Eight days of curling fun for the U.S. Steel Pan Continental Curling Championships. Cliffs shares more about their strategic partnership with Posco, a Korean steelmaker.
NOVEMBER: The gales of November arrived, and with them, the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. She went down with a load of iron ore on November 10th, 1975. A $110 million dollar order from Komatsu is arriving at Mesabi Metallics.
DECEMBER: As the year wound down, an announcement that Granite City Works will be ramping up again. U.S. Steel said they are restarting one of two blast furnaces there. Historically, pellets from Keetac have fed that mill. U.S. Steel donated $75,000 to support improvements at the Hibbing Memorial Building. The the week before Christmas, Talon Metals shared that they are buying Lundin Mining and the Eagle Mine in Michigan. And the MPCA said they are going to work with independent researchers and and experts to analyze sulfate levels and their impact on wild rice.
https://www.wdio.com/mining-news/a-look-back-at-the-mining-milestones-for-2025/