by Assistant Secretary for Land
and Minerals Management Joe Balash
At the dawn of the twentieth century, tens of thousands of people arrived and settled in the Iron Range across northern Minnesota. They came from Scandinavia, Austria-Hungary, Italy, England, and dozens of other places of origin. These new Minnesotans mined the ore, for which the region was named, and built their communities. By 1920, their population had swelled to over 100,000 and comprised 85 percent of the workforce in the mines. When the rise of National Socialism threatened the western world, output from these mines fed the production of the tanks, ships, and airplanes that won World War II.
A century later, we find ourselves in a world where copper is essential to our efficient use of electricity and the transmission of information. Once again, northern Minnesota may play a key role in supplying the raw materials that are needed for solar panels, electric vehicles, and smartphones.