Wandering through Minnesota’s relatively flat Arrowhead region, you might stumble upon what seems to be a beautiful series of gorges and fluvial terraces rivaling the splendid canyonlands of the American Southwest. But what you’re seeing isn’t a natural geologic formation, it’s a massive mining project that’s been reshaping the environment for over 120 years. With a maximum length of eight miles and maximum width of three-and-a-half miles, the Hull–Rust–Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine is an impressive human accomplishment and once one of the largest open pit mines in the world. The…
