Empire Mine to temporarily shutdown

ISHPEMING — The Empire Mine will temporarily shutdown this summer, according to a communications representative from Cliffs Natural Resources.

The Empire Mine will go idle from the end of June through October. According to Cliffs, steel imports are at record/historic levels, which has lowered the demand for domestic produced steel.

The company’s quarterly earnings lowered their sales production volume and expectations from their original plans because of customer demand. Cliffs is already taking the necessarily steps to temporarily idle the plant, which is expected to permanently close in 2016.