taconite
noun
tac·o·nite ˈta-kə-ˌnīt 
: a flintlike rock high enough in iron content to constitute a low-grade iron ore
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The tariffs did help the U.S. taconite industry, concentrated in Minnesota’s Iron Range. 
Jim Spencer, Star Tribune, 9 Oct. 2020 Minnesota taconite pellets usually had to travel less than 100 miles by rail before loading onto the bulk carriers that provide dirt-cheap transportation. Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 22 Nov. 2019 State revenue generated from taconite mining accounts for approximately 80 percent of the school trust. Letter Writers, Twin Cities, 2 Oct. 2019 Bob Vlaisavljevich, the mayor of this small town in the north-eastern corner of the state, lauds taconite and other minerals as the spine of the local economy. The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019 Electric arc furnaces are becoming the new normal, while the blast-furnace steel mills that the Minnesota taconite industry has traditionally supplied are aging. Jimmy Lovrien, Twin Cities, 7 Aug. 2019 Then again, the mine that Forsman works in is a taconite mine, not the type of copper-nickel mine that environmentalists decry as a threat to this watershed. Reid Forgrave, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2017 Essar’s Nashwauk facility was supposed to be employing 350 people by 2014, producing some 7 million tons of taconite iron ore pellets each year. John Myers, Twin Cities, 13 Jan. 2017 See More
Jim Spencer, Star Tribune, 9 Oct. 2020 Minnesota taconite pellets usually had to travel less than 100 miles by rail before loading onto the bulk carriers that provide dirt-cheap transportation. Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 22 Nov. 2019 State revenue generated from taconite mining accounts for approximately 80 percent of the school trust. Letter Writers, Twin Cities, 2 Oct. 2019 Bob Vlaisavljevich, the mayor of this small town in the north-eastern corner of the state, lauds taconite and other minerals as the spine of the local economy. The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019 Electric arc furnaces are becoming the new normal, while the blast-furnace steel mills that the Minnesota taconite industry has traditionally supplied are aging. Jimmy Lovrien, Twin Cities, 7 Aug. 2019 Then again, the mine that Forsman works in is a taconite mine, not the type of copper-nickel mine that environmentalists decry as a threat to this watershed. Reid Forgrave, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2017 Essar’s Nashwauk facility was supposed to be employing 350 people by 2014, producing some 7 million tons of taconite iron ore pellets each year. John Myers, Twin Cities, 13 Jan. 2017 See More Word History
Etymology
Taconic Range
First Known Use
1892, in the meaning defined above