MESABI RANGE

largest of three iron ranges in Minnesota, U.S. (the others are Vermilion and Cuyuna), extending for 110 miles (180 km) from Babbitt (east) to Grand Rapids (southwest) at heights varying from 200 to 500 feet (60 to 150 m) with a high point of 2,000 feet (610 m). The great bulk of its iron-ore formation is hard, magnetic taconite, which exists in thick layers up to 3 miles (5 km) wide. By the 1950s reserves of high-grade hematite ore, worked since 1892, were depleted, and the lower grade taconite was economically processed as pellets containing more than 60 percent iron. The chief mining centres are Hibbing and Virginia. Mesabi is an Ojibwa Indian name meaning giant.