Grand Rapids-based Magnetation gained approval Tuesday to build its fourth iron ore recovery plant on Minnesota's iron range.
The Duluth News-Tribune reports the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's citizens board unanimously approved Magnetation's plan for a plant near Coleraine.
The company plans to begin construction of the $120 million plant this summer to begin production early in 2015, according to the News-Tribune. The new facility is expected to employ 160 people. Magnetation already has plants near Taconite, Keewatin, and Chisholm that employ 220.
Magnetation uses its own technology - based on magnetism - to pull iron ore out of mines that were thought to be played out.
The company also announced Tuesday that it has arranged $375 million in financing for the Coleraine plant and for a plant in Reynolds, Indiana, that will make iron ore pellets.
The News Tribune reports the PCA's approval came after staff determined waste from the Coleraine plant would have no measurable impact on waters in the area. The state DNR had previously approved the plant.
