Editing Iron Range (section)

{{short description|Iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada}}
{{for multi|the locality in Queensland, Australia|Iron Range, Queensland|the National Park and former USAF Bomber base in Queensland, Australia|Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
[[File:Iron Ranges.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Lake Superior]] Iron Ranges]]

The '''Iron Range''' is collectively or individually a number of elongated [[iron-ore]] mining districts around [[Lake Superior]] in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by the Giants Range [[batholith]].<ref name="Allison1925">{{cite journal | last1 = Allison | first1 = Ira S. | title = The Giants Range Batholith of Minnesota | journal = The Journal of Geology | date = July 1925 | volume = 33 | issue = 5 | pages = 488–508 | doi = 10.1086/623215 | hdl = 2027/uc1.$b30134 | s2cid = 140669590 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> These [[chert]]y iron ore deposits are [[Precambrian]] in the Vermilion Range and middle Precambrian in the [[Mesabi Range|Mesabi]] and [[Cuyuna Range|Cuyuna]] ranges, all in [[Minnesota]]. The [[Gogebic Range]] in [[Wisconsin]] and the [[Marquette Iron Range]] and Menominee Range in [[Michigan]] have similar characteristics and are of similar age. Natural ores and concentrates were produced from 1848 until the mid-1950s, when [[taconite]]s and [[jasper]]s were concentrated and [[pelletizing|pelletized]], and started to become the major source of iron production.<ref name=Ridge>{{Cite book |last=Marsden |first=Ralph |title=Geology of the Iron Ores of the Lake Superior Region in the United States, in Volume 1 of Ore Deposits of the United States, 1933–1967 |publisher=The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc. |year=1968 |editor=John D. Ridge |pages=490–492}}</ref>

The mining districts are in Minnesota's [[Arrowhead Region]]. The region's far eastern area, containing the [[Duluth Complex]] along the shore of Lake Superior, and the far northern area, along the [[Canada–United States border|Canada–U.S. border]], are not associated with iron ore mining, but deposits of copper, nickel, and cobalt at the northern boundary of the Duluth Complex, where it meets the iron formations, are being considered for mining.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nonferrous Metallic Minerals - Exploration Areas |url=https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lands_minerals/metallic_nf/exp_areas.html |publisher=Minnesota Department of Natural Resources |access-date=14 December 2022}}</ref>