United Taconite to Increase Production, Return to 40-Hour Workweek
09/03/2009 - United Taconite LLC will increase production for the remainder of 2009, which allows its 400-plus hourly workers to move toward a 40-hour workweek. The company has been operating under a 32-hour workweek since November 2008.
United Taconite LLC will increase production for the remainder of 2009, which allows its 400-plus hourly workers to move toward a 40-hour workweek.
United Taconite, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., has been operating under a 32-hour workweek since November 2008, when one of its two operating furnaces was idled due to weak demand for iron ore.
The production ramp-up will be phased in through September and October. After the Labor Day holiday, mining operations will increase at the Thunderbird Mine in Eveleth, Minn. In October, production will increase at the concentrator portion of the facility, located at the Fairlane Plant in Forbes, Minn. Full start-up of the Line 1 furnace, which has been idled since the end of October 2008, is expected in early November.
“Cliffs Natural Resources is pleased United Taconite management and the union have been able to work cooperatively to keep everyone employed during these difficult economic times and avoid layoffs,” said Donald J. Gallagher, President of Cliffs’ North American business unit. “For the past nine months, United Taconite has operated safely and efficiently despite the tremendous uncertainty about the economy. Today, I thank the employees and the management team at United for their dedication and look forward to bringing back both furnace lines at United.”
United Taconite previously operated as EVTAC Mining Company and was idled in 2003 when EVTAC filed for bankruptcy. Cliffs Natural Resources and Laiwu Steel Group purchased the mine assets and reopened the facility as United Taconite in December 2003. In July 2008, Cliffs Natural Resources acquired Laiwu’s ownership interest and wholly owns the facility. United Taconite employs about 500 people with an annual payroll of $57 million and a total annual economic impact to the state of Minnesota of $270 million.
Cliffs Natural Resources is an international mining and natural resources company. It is the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America, a major supplier of direct-shipping lump and fines iron ore out of Australia and a significant producer of metallurgical coal. The company’s North American business unit comprises six iron ore mines owned or managed in Michigan, Minnesota, and Eastern Canada, and two coking coal mining complexes located in West Virginia and Alabama. The Asia Pacific business unit comprises two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia and a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine in Queensland, Australia. The South American business unit includes a 30% interest in the Amapá Project, an iron ore project in the state of Amapá in Brazil.
