Hibbing Taconite is extended; Glencore to pay up; Rock Ridge nears completion
Plus: A ton of coats, murder challenge denied and more!
Happy Friday, Iron Range Today readers! We made it through another week, another February and onto March.
🏒 Some congratulations are in order to kick us off. First to the Hibbing and Rock Ridge hockey teams for a pair of stellar performances against hockey powerhouse Hermantown, which goes to state for the fourth consecutive year. One clear takeaway here is that Iron Range hockey is back on the upswing.
🏀 Congratulations are also due to Cherry Tiger junior Isaac Asuma, who after a blowout win over Rock Ridge on Thursday night, accounced his committment to the Minnesota Golden Gophers. That’s two Range basketball players committing to Power 5 schools after Mountain Iron-Buhl star Jordan Zubich announced she would join the North Carolina Tar Heels. Both of them graduate in 2024, so we'll be able to enjoy another season of watching these great young athletes on the court.
Now onto the other news…
Hibbing Taconite issued new mineral leases
Minnesota’s Executive Council on Thursday issued new mineral leases to Cleveland-Cliffs and Hibbing Taconite.
It’s not the leases in Nashwauk the company is angling to obtain, which would extend the life of mine in Hibbing by decades. Instead, these leases buy the mine about nine months, according to Cliffs.
It’s a Band-Aid solution and what the state could do right now as it weighs how to handle the Nashwauk leases. But it could be an important life extender.
Here’s the deal: If Cliffs wins the rights to the state mineral leases in a way that significantly extends HibTac’s life of mine, there’s still work to be done in the form of permitting, logistics and the like. It’s widely expected the mine would have to idle for some time period no matter the outcome in Nashwauk, but this could overlap or at least shorten any down time.
That’s the silver lining, at least, to the temporary solution. Cliffs and the state still need to pull a long-term solution together or 700-plus jobs are going to vanish in a few years.
Glencore to pay $700M after bribery plea
A U.S. judge ordered Glencore to pay $700 million after the mining conglomerate pleaded guilty to bribery in several other countries.
Glencore is the primary owner of PolyMet, which seeks to build Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine and recently partnered with Teck to form NewRange Copper Nickel.
The bribery case won’t impact the NewRange project as it navigates a legal and review process on a number of its permits, but it will bring increased scrutiny to the Swiss-based mining giant. Should also note that the bribery plea is not connected with the Iron Range project — it just looks really bad.
Environmental groups is Minnesota have long-challenged the NewRange (formerly NorthMet) project and lately ratcheted up their concerns over Glencore. Even on the Range there has been some scrutiny of the company, especially after a 2019 mine collapse in the Congo.
Project supporters will point to Glencore and Teck as companies with the financial wherewithal to build and operate NewRange, providing hundreds of jobs to the employment-stapped region, and a domestic source of needed minerals.
Coat drive update: It was a big success!
In January, we brought you the story of a coat drive organized by four Rock Ridge High School students in connection with the Leos Club (one of those students was our kid).
Well, it was a big success and this week they were recognized by the local Lions Club.
In all, more than 1,000 pounds of clothing was collected and donated, estimated at a worth of $500. To say we’re proud parents is an understatement.
(We’ll have a story coming soon on the greater need facing the region.)
Iron Range murder conviction upheld
Tom Olsen at the Duluth News Tribune has the story of the Minnesota Supreme Court affirming a Hibbing man’s conviction in a 2018 murder.
The high court denied the appeal of Jerome Dionte Spann over his premeditated first-degree murder conviction for the Christmas Day 2018 shooting and killing of Jeryel Octavious McBeth.
Justices ultimately decided Judge Rachel Sullivan correctly applied the law after Spann waived a jury trial in favor of a bench trial. They did ask Sullivan to reconsider a second-degree assault conviction, but it won’t have any bearing on his automatic life sentence either way.
We recently toured Rock Ridge High School and the school is looking amazing! They already hosted a pair of basketball games there and things are on track to open the 2023-24 school year there. More to come when Iron Range Today visits in its official capacity.
Quick hits
From the Star Tribune, Minnesota Power is asking the state Legislature to fund $25 million to refurbish a power line that runs from Hermantown to North Dakota. Total project cost is $700 million.
Walleye fishing on Mille Lacs will be open all summer this year, according to MPR News. Summer…what’s that like again?
MinnPost talks about the child care strategy Minnesota Democrats are taking on this session. Iron Range Sen. Grant Hauschild on Thursday presented his Great Start Child Care and Dependent Care Credit in the Senate Tax Committee.
Press Release: Cliffs is hailing a U.S. International Trade Commission preliminary vote on a tin mill products case the company and the United Steelworkers jointly filed in January.
Let’s have some fun: From the Washington Post, you’ve been elected to Congress! Take a quiz and find out what committee you would land on. Jerry landed on Energy/Commerce and Transportation/Infrastructure.
What we’re up to
🚗 Leah is taking the girls on a girls trip to the Twin Cities this weekend. That means the four boys are at home. Alone. *Plays omnious music*
🏀 Jerry has the boys this weekend and two of them in the Cities next weekend for a basketball tournament. We’re also catching the Timberwolves game on March 10!
✈️ Jerry and Leah booked a vacation! Well, kinda. Jerry has a May work conference in Jacksonville, Fla. and Leah is tagging along.
☘️ It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day! We’ll have a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Burnes that weekend.