Mar. 2--As taconite plants across the Iron Range continue to throttle back production, at least one business catering to mining operations continues to polish its plans for an expansion.

"Our project is still on the table," said Jon Anderson, regional manager for P&H MinePro's Minnesota and Michigan operations.

The company, which repairs and refurbishes all manner of mine equipment, has been laying plans to build a new facility less than a mile north of the Virginia Golf Course on the east side of U.S. Highway 53. The company is looking to construct a 37,000-square-foot building on a site where mines dumped overburden for years. Overburden is the waste material removed at mines to reach mineral deposits.

Somewhere between 500,000 and 900,000 cubic yards of material will need to be removed from the site to make it suitable for construction, said John Tourville, Virginia city operations director.

Nevertheless, the site is an attractive one because of its proximity to taconite mines and an adjacent inter-mine heavy haul road that has no weight limits. That would allow for the transport of heavy equipment to P&H year-round.

The company already employs 60-some people, according to Anderson, and plans call for the hiring of another 16 people if the new facility is built. Wages at P&H range between $16 and $25 per hour.

"We try to hire the best and brightest people, and we pay them well," Anderson said.

If all goes well, P&H's new facility eventually could more than double in size to about 80,000 square feet.

To make the project possible, both Iron Range Resources and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development have dedicated money to do sitework, install water and sewer infrastructure and tackle roadwork needed to improve access to the property. Just this past week, DEED awarded a $200,000 grant for the project.

In all, about $1.8 million in public funding has been made available to help P&H grow, Tourville said.

A development agreement for the project has been drafted but not yet signed.

"We're checking out our options right now," said Tom Campbell, a project consultant retained by P&H. Those options could include partnering with a third party who would build and own a facility and rent it to P&H via a long-term lease.

Campbell explained that P&H's parent company, Joy Global Inc., has been working to conserve its financial resources of late.

"They have severely reduced its capital expenditures for fiscal year 2009," he said. While some projects have been canceled as a result, he noted that the Virginia plant has so far survived the cuts.

Anderson said that despite a recent downturn in the mining industry, "I have total faith in its long-range future."

Meanwhile, Tourville said he has approached both DEED and Iron Range Resources seeking the go-ahead to begin work on the site soon.

"We're ready to get the wheels turning and put some people to work," he said.

Even if the P&H project falls apart, Tourville said he remains convinced the site will prove attractive for future development. The work also could open the way for the establishment of a new industrial park on the north end of Virginia.

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