Qualla: Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine

Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine: Introduction

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Chipcity, CC BY-SA 3.0. From the observation platform on the north side of Hibbing, the ground simply vanishes. Red-orange terraces descend in enormous steps toward a floor so far below that the haul trucks crawling along it look like insects. The Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine stretches more than three miles long, up to two miles wide, and over 500 feet deep. It has been devouring the Mesabi Range since 1895, making it one of the world's first mechanized open-pit mines. During its peak production years spanning World War I through World War II, this single pit supplied as much as one-fourth of all the iron ore mined in the United States. That output made Minnesota the nation's top iron producer and helped make the U.S. the world's largest steel manufacturer.

Image: Chipcity | CC BY-SA 3.0

Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine: Three Mines Become One

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0. Iron ore was discovered near present-day Hibbing in early 1892, two years after the first Mesabi Range mine opened at Mountain Iron. Three operations sprang up almost simultaneously. The Lake Superior Consolidated Iron Mines developed the underground Burt Mine under William Olcot...

Image: McGhiever | CC BY-SA 3.0

Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine: The Mine Eats the Town

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0. By 1910, the pit surrounded Hibbing on three sides. Geologists confirmed what the mining companies already knew: the ore body continued directly beneath the town's streets, homes, and businesses. The population had hit 20,000, but the iron underneath was worth more than everythin...

Image: McGhiever | CC BY-SA 3.0

Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine: Arsenal of Democracy

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0. The mine's peak significance coincided with the two world wars, when American steel production became a matter of national survival. Iron ore from the Hull-Rust-Mahoning pit traveled by rail to Duluth, where it was loaded onto Lake Superior freighters bound for steel mills in Pit...

Image: McGhiever | CC BY-SA 3.0

Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine: From Bethlehem to Cleveland-Cliffs

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit McGhiever, CC BY-SA 3.0. The mine's corporate lineage reads like a history of American steelmaking. Pickands Mather originally managed Hibbing Taconite on behalf of Bethlehem Steel and the Canadian firm Stelco. ArcelorMittal assumed the managing partner role in August 2019. Then, in September 2020, Cleve...

Image: McGhiever | CC BY-SA 3.0