Jul. 2--There was more bad news this morning for the Iron Range's beleaguered taconite industry when Cliffs Natural Resources announced it would keep Hibbing Taconite shut down until April 2010.

The plant saw two of its production lines idled in March and shut down in May, originally for 15 weeks.

Now, Cliffs says the plant, with 700 employees, will be out of work through the first quarter of 2010. Cliffs runs the plant, which it jointly owns with ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel Canada.

The news came as part of a general update of Cliff's North American iron ore operations as global steel demand remains low and demand for taconite has dropped. Cliffs reported that a major steelmaker recently agreed to a price cut of 48 percent for taconite pellets.

Northshore Mining Company, another Cliffs operation, will restart July 5. The facility has been idle since April 6 and expects to produce 3.2 million tons this year.

Cliffs' United Taconite reopened on June 15 after a four-week major repair that began in May followed by a two-week mandatory vacation period the first two weeks of June. Utac's production for 2009 is 3.4 million tons. The plant is operating on a shortened, 32-hour workweek.

Minnesota's six taconite plants are or have been idle in recent months in short- or long-term closures due to the ongoing recession and weak market for steel and ore.

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