Northshore Mining Silver Bay
Large load · 10 OUTER DR, Silver Bay, MN
Northshore Mining's Babbitt mine and Silver Bay pellet plant are owned by Cleveland-Cliffs. Both sites were idled in 2022 and partially restarted in April 2023, with the company saying they would not reach full operations that year. In March 2026 the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency fined the Silver Bay operation for repeated wastewater releases, a record that places the plant in active operation at the time of that enforcement.
Overview
Cleveland-Cliffs extended the closure of the Northshore Mining plant in July 2022, and coverage at the time said the plant would continue to be idled until at least April 2023 under an announcement from the owner. In April 2023 the Duluth News Tribune reported that the company had begun calling back workers and that the Silver Bay and Babbitt operations would partially restart. Cliffs said the two operations were not expected to ramp up to full operations that year, so the 2023 restart was partial rather than a return to full production. The Silver Bay pellet plant receives ore from the Babbitt mine.
Profile
- Wastewater enforcement in 2026
- Northshore Mining in Silver Bay was handed a $19,000 in fines after violating its wastewater permit, according to Northern News Now in March 2026. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said the company repeatedly violated environmental rules, and the largest release of water was nearly 400-thousand gallons, with a small amount that may have reached the Beaver River. The company's penalty required spill prevention reports, replacement of faulty pipeline, and an integrity plan.
- Ownership and operating footprint
- Cleveland-Cliffs is named as the owner in the 2022 idling announcement and as the operator in the 2026 enforcement coverage. The Northshore system is made up of a Babbitt mine and a pellet plant at Silver Bay, and the two sites were idled and restarted together in 2022 and 2023. Coverage of the 2023 restart describes the Silver Bay and Babbitt operations as one system. The Duluth News Tribune's April 2023 report named both the Silver Bay and Babbitt operations as the sites being restarted, and the company said neither would reach full operations that year.
Facility
- Activity
- Iron ore pellets from the Babbitt mine and the Silver Bay pellet plant
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating
Related records
Timeline
- Jul 22, 2022
- Cleveland-Cliffs extended the idling of the Northshore Mining plant until at least April 2023.
Cleveland-Cliffs extends closure of Northshore Mining until April | MPR News
- Apr 25, 2023
- Northshore Mining partially restarted the Silver Bay and Babbitt operations.
Northshore Mining partially restarts - Duluth News Tribune | News, weather, and sports from Duluth, Minnesota
- Mar 18, 2026
- The MPCA fined Northshore Mining $19,000 for wastewater permit violations.
Northshore Mining fined $19K for violating wastewater permit