"The earth there is unusual, filled with ore. So there is something happening that is hard to define. There is a magnetic attraction there. Maybe thousands and thousands of years ago, some planet bumped into the land there."
— Bob Dylan
Much of U.S. economy these days is based on putting your fingers onto small plastic squares and pressing down all day.
But if you know where to look, you can find survivors of the great service economy tidal wave.
One of such pocket: Northern Minnesota's Iron Range.
As Dylan, a native of Hibbing, Minn., once explained to Ron Rosenbaum in the above quote, the area contains astonishing deposits of iron ore — some of the most extensive in the nation.
Indeed, northern Minnesota sits on some of the oldest continent in the world.
Over the past few years, Todd M., an Iron Range resident, has captured the vast, hulking industrial complex that makes the region tick, from the monstrous diggers, to the endless ore trains, to some of the last remaining natural resource ports in the country.
Looking at it from his perspective, you'd think you were standing in one of Mongolia's vast mining operations.
With his permission, we've shared his narrated tour of America's magnetic mystery land.
"A stop in Hibbing is not complete without a stop at the mine overlook for Hibbing taconite."
"Most of United Taconite's huge mining equipment lay silent as a production shut down begins."
"Haul Trucks working at Minntac. There are five trucks in this picture. One at each course crusher (upper left) and one between them waiting to dump. Then the two on the haul road to the east pit. The building itself is about nine stories high. The DM&IR/CN tracks cut across the middle of the picture around the area of the power poles starting at the left side middle. That also is where employees drive up to the facility."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider