During a ceremony Tuesday, chief executive Lourenco Goncalves was joined by local and state officials to celebrate the project, which allows the mine to make low-silica pellets, the feedstock for its hot briquetted iron plant in Toledo, Ohio, USA.

Improvements included upgrades to the concentrator building, a new scavenger building and new conveyor systems, a limestone tank, and a steam generating plant.

“In mining towns, we’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop. There’s inevitable shutdowns. This is the first time we’re actually optimistic,” Silver Bay mayor Scott Johnson told the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune.