Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States, on the Mesabi Iron Range. With an economy heavily reliant on large-scale iron ore mining, Virginia is considered the Mesabi Range's commercial center. The population was 8,423 people at the 2020 census. Virginia is a part of the Duluth metropolitan area, and U.S. Highway 53 runs through town.
View of Virginia, showing a water tower and a line of wind turbines in the distance
The Rouchleau open pit iron mine, now closed
Actor Chris Pratt was born in Virginia, Minnesota.
The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district and mountain range in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota. First described in 1866, it is the chief iron ore mining district in the United States. The district is located largely in Itasca and Saint Louis counties. It has been extensively worked since 1892, and has seen a transition from high-grade direct shipping ores through gravity concentrates to the current industry exclusively producing iron ore (taconite) pellets. Production has been dominantly controlled by vertically integrated steelmakers since 1901, and therefore is dictated largely by US ironmaking capacity and demand.
Lake Superior Iron Ranges
Hull–Rust–Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine, Mesabi Range, 2010
Open-pit iron mining with five-ton steam shovels, Hibbing, Minnesota c. 1906
Duluth Ore Docks c. 1900–1915