Traditionally, iron ore (the main ingredient of
steel) has been processed into pellets which
are shipped to steel mills for processing. Although
various advances have improved this
process, the basic concept has been the same
for decades. However, the pellets are not
compatible with modern electric arc furnaces
which use high voltage electracity to melt raw
materials into molten steel because they do
not contain enough pure iron to melt properly.
The new technology that is being developed by
Mesabi Nugget creates nuggets that are about
95-99% pure iron ore which melts smoothly
and consistently in electric arc furnaces. This
new process allows high quality steel to be
produced more cheaply right here in the
United States.
What started out as a small to medium project
that consisted of only the RHF building soon
became a large project with five additional
support buildings, with more to be released as
the project progresses.
Symons remains the only concrete form provider
for this project. If pelletizing technology
takes off as expected, up to four additional
plants are scheduled for construction in the
Mesabi Iron Ore Range, and Symons is ready
to provide all the formwork again and again!