An east side loader is fresh out of U.S. Steel Minntac with 137 loads of taconite pellets going past the IRRRB mineland reclaimation project at Mott Pit in Mountain Iron. Named for Fred R. Mott, an Assistant General Superintendent of Oliver Iron Mining a division of U.S. Steel Corp., the pit began shipments after WWII when it opened in 1949. It shipped 1.2 million tons before being abandoned in 1953. In 1985 the city of Mountain Iron created a road and picnic area and also a public access into the abandoned pit which they regularly stock with native game fish. The amount of ore, both natural and taconite, that has passed this location has to be nearing the gazillions of tons range.
