Tilden Iron Mine, Michigan

The Tilden Mine is the last remaining large and active iron mine in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is located in the historic mining region known as the Marquette Iron Range, and is part of a major open pit mining area shared with the Empire Mine, which closed in 2016. The Tilden Mine has the capacity to produce eight million tons of iron ore pellets annually, one of the largest producers in the world. A 1,400-acre reservoir and a similarly sized tailings basin were constructed in the area for the mine. The mine and ore reserves are owned by Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., who also own or co-own three additional iron ore mines in the Mesabi Iron Range of Minnesota. All of its mines are located near the Great Lakes, in order to facilitate the shipment of ore pellets to their customers, who then use the pellets to produce steel, primarily at the three big steel mills on the Indiana shores of Lake Michigan. The ore from Tilden goes by rail from the mine to the nearby town of Marquette, where it is loaded on to Great Lakes freighters.