Big bucks from rocks: Study shows Minnesota mining impact, potential

摘要

Iron ore mining in Minnesota has a $3.2 billion annual impact on the state's economy, according to a new University of Minnesota Duluth study, but that's only half the story if copper mining begins as expected. The study, released today by UMD's Labovitz School of Business and Economics, found that the existing iron ore industry -mining, processing and shipping taconite - pumped $3.2 billion into the state economy in 2010 and was responsible for 11,500 jobs. But if the wave of new copper mines and expansion of traditional taconite mining planned in Northeastern Minnesota come to fruition, those numbers would more than double to $7.7 billion and 27,000 jobs, the study concluded.