After 12 years on ice, ore mine comes back to life in Iron County

ore to powder. Once waste mined with ore is removed, a magnet is dragged through the powder to collect iron.
"There are no chemicals involved in the process that yields a high-grade concentrate," Foot said.
Foot bought the mine for $10 million at a 2005 bankruptcy sale and invested about another $10 million to start operations. The mine received many grandfathered permits.
Palladon has contracted with Hurricane's Gilbert Development Corp. to conduct mining operations.
Mining Superintendent Keith Gilbert said he is a third-generation miner.
Gilbert said his family's business mined the ore for the previous owner and just walked away when it closed. Coming back was just like picking up where they left off.
Gilbert Development replaced much of the equipment including the crusher and incorporated new technology so the mining is conducted through automation, Gilbert said.
Foot said rail operations should begin in two months and will fill a train about every other day.
He said the rail tracks to the mine will connect with Union Pacific's main line about 10 miles away. Ore is shipped to Long Beach, Calif., before being loaded onto a China-bound ship with room for 130,000 tons of ore.
Foot said China Kingdom will process the ore at a Beijing-area mill.
China Kingdom is a private company with diverse interests including textiles and poultry, Foot said.
Cedar City Economic Development Director Bryan Dangerfield said Thursday the plant will pay well above Iron County's average wage of $25,000 a year for nonagricultural jobs.
"This is huge to have the mine online when there is so much negative economic news in the world now," Dangerfield said. "This is positive news."
He said beside paying well, he expects other business will also benefit.
"There could be a lot of spinoff business we hope," he said.
Cedar City Mayor Gerald Sherratt said the mine revives the tradition that built Iron County.
"For half a century the economy of the county was built around the iron mines, so it's good to have them back on board," Sherratt said. "It will pay good wages, taxes and contribute to growth."