“The Big Dipper” draws a crowd at Minnesota State Fair

The “Big Dipper” has been a big attraction at the Minnesota State Fair.

No, not the one in the sky.

A 41-yard taconite mining shovel bucket on display at the Iron Mining of Association of Minnesota state fair exhibit has visitors lining up to take photos at the bucket.

“The dipper is the big attraction and from there we have lots of conversations with people,” Kristen Vake, Iron Mining Association of Minnesota (IMA) executive director said. “At one point, we had a group of 15 people in there who wanted their picture taken. We’ve turned into photographers.”

For the IMA and its industry and vendor partners, the fair is the perfect opportunity to tell the story about 140 years of iron ore mining and the Iron Range, Vake said.

A wide variety of fair visitors are stopping at the exhibit to gawk at the giant bucket and learn about taconite mining, Vake said.

“It really varies,” Vake said. “We’ve had quite a few people from the Iron Range come by and they’re very excited to see our mining exhibit. People have stopped by who have connections on the Iron Range who say, “My grandpa used to work there’. We’ve also had people who didn’t know we have mining in Minnesota or those who think that mining has stopped. When we talk about how iron mining is connected to the steel industry, they become aware of the importance of the industry.”

Volunteers from the northeastern Minnesota taconite industry and vendors who supply the industry with goods and services, are helping staff the IMA exhibit.

The exhibit includes literature about mining and other industry-related topics such as the Permanent School Fund in which revenue from mining on state school trust land goes into the fund for distribution to every K-12 public, charter and academy school in the state.

Northeastern Minnesota’s six taconite plants produce iron ore pellets, the raw material used to make steel in blast furnaces.

Everything from cars, trucks, ships, bridges, pipe, wind turbines, buildings, and paper clips, are manufactured from steel made from iron ore pellets.

The Minnesota taconite industry supports more than 11,600 jobs, creates over $1 billion in labor income, $2.1 billion in value-added spending, and injects more than $4 billion into the state’s economy, according to a University of Minnesota Duluth study.

It’s long hours working the fair.

And in recent days, the weather was extremely hot, Vake said.

But Vake said the industry and its members enjoy educating people about mining.

“I think the biggest benefit is for people to be able to talk to people who work in the industry,” Vake said. “So that’s been cool for people to get a look at the industry.”

In addition to learning about the industry, visitors also learn about employment at businesses that support the industry, Vake said.

“Our members are talking to folks about the workforce opportunities for their companies,” Vake said. “Obviously, there’s good jobs to be filled, so that’s a good opportunity. The volunteers I’ve seen here have good conversations with people and talk about their pride in the industry.”

Komatsu Mining, Kivi Brothers Trucking and United States Steel Corp. partnered to bring the shovel bucket to the fair, Vake said.

As the fair winds toward a conclusion Monday, Vake said the bucket continues to be the scoop.

“You even hear people who don’t stop by,” Vake said. “As they pass by, there’s a lot of ‘holy moly’ or ‘I’ve never seen something so big, what is it’? For the most part, there’s been a lot of curiosity and excitement and they’re in awe of the dipper.”