Minnesota Steel Industries - Our Story- Chairman's Welcome

Since the early 1890’s, the Longyear and Bennett families have been partners in the development of Minnesota’s dynamic iron ore industry. As early explorers and astute businessmen, our forefathers established a legacy which we in the present generation are proud to continue as the principal owners of Minnesota Steel. Whereas the goal of earlier generations focused on the need to supply direct shipping ore and then taconite pellets to the hungry blast furnaces in the major industrial regions of the Midwest, our vision is to create a vertically integrated mining and steelmaking operation at the Butler mine site to produce high quality steel products for fabricators and consumers in the regional marketplace.

Not only will this be the first “mine mouth” steel plant in North America, such factors as the availability of high quality iron units, the efficiencies of vertical integration, use of the latest steelmaking technologies, a sound labor force and the existence of essential energy and transportation networks will position Minnesota Steel to be globally competitive and able to survive the inevitable swings in steel industry fortunes.

Bringing this vision to reality has required and will continue to require the cooperation and assistance of Federal, State and local government agencies, mineral fee owners, vendors, financial institutions and individuals from many walks of life. We are delighted with the help we have received thus far and fully expect it will continue.

A project of this magnitude also requires a management team with exceptional skills and experience in the iron and steel industry. I am happy to report that we have made excellent strides in building such a team, which will be augmented as we go into the various construction and operational phases. We also have benefited from the sound advice and work of many consultants from a variety of engineering and scientific fields and will to continue to rely on outside expertise when and as needed.

Finally, we at Minnesota Steel are ever mindful of our obligation to be good neighbors and responsible environmental stewards. We look forward to working with all stakeholders toward this end as we strive to construct the cleanest, most environmentally sound, steelmaking facility in the world.

Sincerely,

Joseph C. Bennett
Chairman