Cleveland-Cliffs to restart Northshore Mining in April

It’s the news that Northshore Mining has been waiting to hear. Cleveland-Cliffs has told area lawmakers that they plan on restarting the mine in Babbitt and the plant in Silver Bay in early April.

The operation has been idle since last May, putting over 450 people on layoff.

The mayor of Silver Bay, Wade LeBlanc, said they couldn’t ask for better news.

“I’m encouraged that Cleveland-Cliffs is beginning the process to reopen their facilities in Babbitt and Silver Bay,” said Sen. Hauschild. “In recent months, I’ve held several meetings with Cleveland-Cliffs to discuss the importance of reopening these plants as soon as possible. These mines and jobs are critical to our regional economy. I heard from numerous miners who were impacted by this closure who said they wanted to get back to work. While we were able to get them a bridge in unemployment insurance benefits until April with my recent bill, my primary goal has always been to reopen these two plants. I’m glad to say that we’re one step closer to making that happen.” 

Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a bill authored by Sens. Grant Hauschild, Jen McEwen, Rob Farnsworth, Justin Eichorn, and Kari Dziedzic and Reps. Dave Lislegard, Roger Skraba, and Spencer Igo which extended unemployment insurance benefits for miners who had been laid off. Reps. Dan Wolgamott, Emma Greenman, Cedrick Frazier, Jeff Brand, Ben Davis, Brad Tabke, and Melissa Hortman also signed on.

Sen. Hauschild said this bill went a long way in helping those workers, but he stayed focused on the ultimate goal of supporting Cleveland-Cliffs’ efforts to reopen their mining operations.