Editing Iron Range (section)

==History==
Geologically, the Mesabi, Gunflint, and Cuyuna Ranges in Minnesota belong to the [[Paleoproterozoic]] [[Animikie Group]], while the Vermilion Range is [[Neoarchean]].<ref>Lodge et al., 2013, New U–Pb geochronology from Timiskaming-type assemblages in the Shebandowan and Vermilion greenstone belts, Wawa subprovince, Superior Craton: Implications for the Neoarchean development of the southwestern Superior Province, Precambrian Research 235, p. 264-277</ref> The geologic history of the [[formation (geology)|formations]] containing iron are typical of [[banded iron formation]]s worldwide.<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>{{rp|502–504}}

Before the 19th century, Native American groups mined [[native copper]] on the [[Keweenaw Peninsula]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Timeline of Michigan Copper Mining Prehistory to 1850 |url=https://www.nps.gov/kewe/learn/historyculture/copper-mining-timeline.htm |publisher=National Park Service |date=May 28, 2022 |access-date=October 26, 2022}}</ref> [[William Austin Burt]] discovered iron ore in the Marquette Range near [[Negaunee, Michigan]] in 1844. Iron ore was discovered on the Menominee Range in 1867 and on the Gogebic Range in 1884. It was first discovered in Minnesota on the Vermilion Range in 1885, the Mesabi Range in 1890, and the Cuyuna Range in 1903.<ref name=Ridge/>

Underground mines were developed to remove the valuable ore of most ranges. But on the Mesabi and Cuyuna Ranges, iron mining operations evolved into enormous [[open pit mines]], where steamshovels and other industrial machines could remove massive amounts of ore. "Large-scale commercial production of magnetite taconite ore on the Mesabi Range started in 1956 at the Peter Mitchell Mine near [[Babbitt, Minnesota]]."<ref name=Ridge/>