Cliffs has invested US$75 million in the equipment and supporting infrastructure necessary to make the pellet. The company broke ground on the project in August 2016 and finished nine months later without any lost-time accidents, it said. 

“Building a new facility on budget, without any lost time accidents, and in only nine months through the Minnesota winter is no small undertaking, one that only the Cliffs team can accomplish,” chief executive Lourenco Goncalves said in a statement. 

“As we have done time and time again, Cliffs has confirmed why we have been in the Iron Range for so many years, and why we have earned the right to continue to be in the (Iron Range) for the years to come.”