Mesabi Trust operates as a royalty trust.
The principal assets of the company consist of two different interests in certain properties in the Mesabi Iron Range: its interest as assignor in the Amended Assignment of Peters Lease and the Amended Assignment of Cloquet Lease, which together cover properties aggregating approximately 9,750 largely contiguous acres in St. Louis County, Minnesota (the Peters Lease Lands and the Cloquet Lease Lands, respectively); and its ownership of the entire benefi...
Mesabi Trust operates as a royalty trust.
The principal assets of the company consist of two different interests in certain properties in the Mesabi Iron Range: its interest as assignor in the Amended Assignment of Peters Lease and the Amended Assignment of Cloquet Lease, which together cover properties aggregating approximately 9,750 largely contiguous acres in St. Louis County, Minnesota (the Peters Lease Lands and the Cloquet Lease Lands, respectively); and its ownership of the entire beneficial interest in the Mesabi Land Trust, which has a 20% interest as fee owner in the Peters Lease Lands and a 100% fee ownership in certain non-mineral-bearing lands adjacent to the Peters and Cloquet Lease Lands (the Mesabi Lease Lands, together with Mesabi Trust Lands, the Trust Estate).
Under the Amended Assignment of Peters Lease, Northshore produces iron ore from Mesabi Trust Lands for the manufacture of iron ore products to be sold to various customers of Cliffs. The company receives royalties on the crude ore extracted from such lands and the pellets produced from such crude ore, and in each case the royalties are based upon the volume of iron ore products shipped and the prices charged to Cliffs’ customers.
The largest component of the Trust Estate is the Peters Lease Lands. The Peters Lease provides that the leasehold estate thereunder will continue until the reserves of iron ore, taconite and other minerals or materials on the land subject to the Peters Lease are exhausted. The Amended Assignment of Peters Lease terminates when the Peters Lease terminates. The Cloquet Lease, executed in 1916, provides that the leasehold estate thereunder will continue until the reserves of iron ore, taconite and other minerals or materials on the land subject to the Cloquet Lease are exhausted. The Amended Assignment of Cloquet Lease terminates when the Cloquet Lease terminates.
The Peters Lease Lands and the Cloquet Lease Lands are located at the northeastern end of the Mesabi Iron Range and contain mineral deposits consisting of a highly metamorphosed sedimentary bed of banded magnetite in siliceous gangue, a form of low-grade iron ore known as taconite, approximately three tons of which must be beneficiated to produce one ton of high-grade pellets. The Mesabi Lease Lands contain substantially no commercial ore deposits and have been used principally in connection with mining the taconite from other parts of the Trust Estate, such as the provision of an area for location of service roads, supporting plants and equipment and dump sites for overburden.
The Trust Estate, including the ore mine, are located in northeastern Minnesota, approximately two miles south of Babbitt, Minnesota. The ore mine on the Trust Estate is called the Peter Mitchell Mine, an open pit mine consisting of a 10-mile long segment of a host rock called the Biwabik Iron Formation, which is a very hard cherty rock containing magnetite as the ore mineral. The Biwabik Iron Formation extends west and southwest for over 100 miles and constitutes the Mesabi Iron Range. As of January 31, 2024, the company's properties had been explored for their iron ore potential.
Northshore is obligated to pay to the company base overriding royalties and royalty bonuses on all pellets (and other iron ore products) produced from the Peters Lease Lands and the Cloquet Lease Lands (Mesabi Ore) and shipped from Silver Bay in each calendar year.
Regulation
The operation of the Northshore mine is subject to regulation by the Mine Safety and Health Administration of the United States Department of Labor under the U.S. Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 1977, as amended (the FMSH Act).
History
Mesabi Trust was founded in 1961. The company was incorporated in 1961.