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U. S. Steel Plans $300 Million Capacity Expansion at Keetac

02/04/2008 - United States Steel is developing a capital investment program in excess of $300 million to expand capacity at its Minnesota Ore Operations' Keetac facility by some 3.6 million additional tons per year.

United States Steel Corp. is developing a capital investment program in excess of $300 million to expand capacity at its Minnesota Ore Operations' Keetac facility in Keewatin, Minn.
 
The expansion, which centers around the upgrade and restart of a pellet production line that has been idle since 1980, would bring Keetac's iron pellet production capacity to a total annual output of 9.6 million tons—a 3.6 million tons/year increase from its current capacity. To support the increase, the company will upgrade related mining, concentrating and agglomerating processes, and will also purchase and install additional mining and processing equipment.
 
"U. S. Steel's Minnesota Ore Operations have been providing iron-bearing pellets to our operations in the United States and Europe for many years," said U. S. Steel Chairman and CEO John Surma. “In 2007, we expanded our steelmaking operations into Canada, creating an opportunity to increase our production at Keetac in order to provide the same high-quality product to our Canadian operations.”
 
As part of the restart program, the company said it would also invest in new emission controls that exceed current environmental standards.
 
Working with agencies and the appropriate stakeholders, U. S. Steel expects to file for environmental permits later this year. Once the permitting process is complete, the company estimates the upgrade program would take about 36 months to complete.
 
The company said the expansion at Keetac would create 75 full-time and 500 temporary construction jobs.
 
Keetac produces six million tons of pellets annually. Minnesota Ore Operations is Minnesota's largest producer of iron ore pellets, the key ingredient used to make steel.