An Economic Exploration of Mining Industry of Northern Minnesota

Abstract

Iron ore minining industry plays a big role in northern Minnesota. It contributes around 30 percent of the regional GDP. In recent time many of these regional mining companies are laying off their employees. China is one of the largest economies of the world. As such it has great impact on world’s economy. This exploratory study investigates if there is some connection between Chinese economic slowdown and regional mining layoffs. For this purpose this paper uses relevant news articles, academic papers, expert interviews and data from various secondary sources. According to the findings of this study multiple factors including slowdown of Chinese economy, steel dumping by China, rising world production of iron ore, low U.S. domestic demand of iron ore, low iron ore price, and, natural resource boombust cycle can be utilized in explaining these regional mining layoffs.