Lease Agreement For Failed Iron Ore Mine Expires

Gogebic Taconite’s agreement with Iron County to pay for the right to lease land for a once-planned $1.5 billion iron ore mine has expired.

Under the agreement, GTAC would pay Iron County $20,000 every two years to reserve the right to lease land. But last year, the two renegotiated that agreement just before payment came due. Iron County Clerk Mike Saari said the county agreed GTAC would pay $30,000 this year instead, as long as the company was still pursuing plans to mine.

“The county board approved the extension because they were hoping that GTAC would mine the property,” said Saari. “We didn’t know if they were going to, just because of the price and other factors. We were hoping it would still be a viable project so the county did everything they could to try to make it happen.”

Former GTAC President Bill Williams said the mining company hasn’t paid the county because they’re no longer moving forward with the project.

“We made them $40,000 in payments through the course of our project exploration, and that’s it,” Williams said. “That was there to hold that option for us to lease it, and now it’s done.”

Saari said it was always up to GTAC whether they were going to continue their plans to mine.

“If we’d have forced the issue and they had said no, they weren’t going to give us the $20,000 anyway,” said Saari. “It was still up to them to go forward with the project and then they’d have kept paying. When they decided they probably weren’t going to, that’s why they renegotiated for another year.”

An attorney hired by the county said the lack of payment terminates the company’s agreement to reserve the right to lease land from Iron County.

GTAC announced it was closing its Hurley office a month after they renegotiated payment.