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IRON MOUNTAIN PROJECT
IRON SPRINGS DISTRICT IRON COUNTY, UTAH  Iron Springs District
The magnetite-rich resources in the Iron Springs district were discovered by Mormon pioneers in 1849. The pioneers believed that a steel-making industry could be established due to an abundance of accessible iron and coal resources, resulting in the founding of nearby towns Cedar City and Parowan. The first furnace began operation in 1852 in Cedar City and produced 25 tons of pig iron before shutting down in 1855. The second phase of operations took place between 1923 and 1942. About 4 million tons of iron ore were produced and shipped by the Columbia Iron Mining Company to the Columbia Steel Company's plant in Ironton, Utah, south of Provo. The third phase of operations in the district commenced during World War II, ending in 1961. Iron Ore production totaled almost 60 million long tons. The Columbia Iron Mining Company and the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation were the major producers during this time. Columbia shipped its ore to the Geneva Steel plant, built in Provo, Utah, in 1943. This plant was built by the US Federal Government and was later acquired by US Steel. The fourth phase took place from 1962 to 1995. Although nearly 9 million tons of iron ore were produced during this period, production during this phase decreased because the Geneva Plant began purchasing pellet materials from producers outside the state. USX sold its holdings in 1987 to the predecessor company to Geneva Steel. The fifth phase extended from 1987 to 1995 under the ownership of Geneva Steel, and averaged about 864,000 metric tonnes per year through 1991. Most or all of the ore produced in the Comstock/Mountain Lion mine during this period was mined under contract to Geneva Steel by Gilbert Development Corp., of Cedar City, Utah. High-grade ore was direct-shipped to the Geneva Steel plant and other quantities of ore were stockpiled. Production ceased in 1995. Total district production from inception to the present is estimated to be about 80,000,000 metric tonnes. Difficult market conditions and the burden of large corporate debt caused Geneva Steel and its affiliated companies to file chapter 11 bankruptcies twice, most recently in 2002. All of the Iron County assets of Geneva Steel were transferred to its affiliated company IOM in 2001, and in January of 2005 a bankruptcy hearing ruled in favor of and approved the sale of the property to Palladon. The Comstock/Mountain Lion open pit has an approved state of Utah Large Mine Plan in place. The existing Mining and Reclamation Plan is also considered to be sufficient for the resumption of mining activities in the Comstock/Mountain Lion open pit and on low-grade stockpile material located within the area. Palladon plans to bring the Comstock/Mountain Lion iron mine into commercial operations and reach an annual production capacity of 2,000,000 metric tonnes of iron ore concentrates. |
