Idled Mines
In March 2025, Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs idled two Minnesota mining operations: Hibbing Taconite Co. in Hibbing and the Minorca Mine in Virginia. 600 steelworkers lost their jobs.
Al King, president of the union representing the steelworkers at Cleveland-Cliffs’ Minorca Mine, pushed for extended unemployment benefits, but those are now set to expire in June. Many hoped the mine would reopen and Cleveland-Cliffs would call the laid-off miners back, but that has become a pipe dream. King is a second-generation miner, and he wants to be sure there are employment opportunities on the Iron Range for his four kids when they grow up. From pushing for investment in job diversity to helping people navigate the changing job situation, King has been thrust into a world of advocacy for the Range.
Other families, like the Salinases, have decided to leave the Range, seeking better opportunities elsewhere. After a 14-year career at the Minorca Mine, Roy Salinas has decided to take a job out of state. His wife, Missy, was born and raised on the Range, but they no longer see the area as one that can provide a solid future for their family.
While it’s impossible to know the full economic impact shuttering the mines will have, King sees parallels in his hometown of Orr. Just 44 miles north of Virginia, Minn., Orr was once a thriving town supported by the logging industry but is now a ghost of its former self. What will happen when a town supported by mining shuts down its mines?
0:00 Mining is our way of life up here
1:00 What’s happening on the Iron Range is unprecedented
1:40 Cleveland-Cliffs announces the complete idling of their Minorca Mine and a partial idling of Hibbing Taconite
2:09 The Salinas’ decide to move to Iowa
3:15 Securing an additional six months of unemployment benefits
3:39 Al and Rodney King visit their hometown: Orr, Minnesota
6:20 The Salinas’ pack up
7:55 Salians’ heartfelt goodbyes
9:10 Al has been thrust into an Iron Range advocacy role
9:45 Chandler King shows off his Pokemon cards
10:43 Al talks with CNN about the use of foreign steel in the White House
11:46 Al informs the union membership that their unemployment benefits will not be extended
12:28 Al at the Capitol “I’m not getting paid for this”
13:34 The Salinas’ look for a new place to live in Iowa.
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