Northshore Property (Peter Mitchell Mine / E.W. Davis Works) Feasibility Study: $619M NPV Over a 48-Year Mine Life
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.'s Northshore Property (Peter Mitchell Mine / E.W. Davis Works) in St. Louis County / Lake County, Northeastern Minnesota, USA (Mesabi Iron Range) has a Feasibility Study outlining an after-tax NPV of $619M. The mine plan runs 48 years at about 5 MLT (wet pellets) per year.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.'s Northshore Property (Peter Mitchell Mine / E.W. Davis Works) has reported Feasibility Study results for the iron ore (magnetite / iron ore pellets) project in St. Louis County / Lake County, Northeastern Minnesota, USA (Mesabi Iron Range). The study headlines an after-tax net present value of $619M at a 10% discount rate. It reflects Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.'s (CLF) latest disclosed economics for the asset.
Economics. The after-tax NPV is $619M using a 10% discount rate. Economics are based on US$98/WLT blended wet pellet revenue (three-year trailing average); US$90/LT wet standard pellet price used for Mineral Reserve evaluation.
Production and mine plan. The project envisions an open-pit operation. Life of mine is 48 years. Average annual production is approximately 5 MLT (wet pellets). Average head grade is 24.6% MagFe (crude ore reserves). Metallurgical recovery averages 29.4%. The open-pit strip ratio is 0.8:1.
Resources and ownership. The company holds a 100% interest in the project.
These figures are extracted from Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.'s technical disclosures and reflect the most recent Feasibility Study on file. Compare this project against other developers and producers in our project economics database, and always verify the numbers against the original technical report before making any investment decision.
Reserves & Resources
| Category | Tonnage | Grade | Contained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proven | 303.2 MLT | 25.3% MagFe | 92.0 MLT wet pellets |
| Probable | 519.2 MLT | 24.1% MagFe | 149.6 MLT wet pellets |
| Proven & Probable | 822.4 MLT | 24.6% MagFe | 241.6 MLT wet pellets |
| Category | Tonnage | Grade | Contained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 766.7 MLT | 22.1% MagFe | 195.3 MLT wet pellets |
| Indicated | 390.8 MLT | 22.4% MagFe | 103.1 MLT wet pellets |
| Measured & Indicated | 1,157.5 MLT | 22.2% MagFe | 298.4 MLT wet pellets |
| Inferred | 13.6 MLT | 19.8% MagFe | 3.1 MLT wet pellets |
Our Analysis
- NPV after-tax
- $619M
higher than 50% of 537 projects we track
- Mine life
- 48yrs
- Study price assumption
- US$98/WLT blended wet pellet revenue (three-year trailing average); US$90/LT wet standard pellet price used for Mineral Reserve evaluation
On the numbers we track, this is a middle-of-the-pack asset: an after-tax NPV of $619M puts it ahead of roughly half the 537 projects in our database, and there is no single figure here that separates it from the crowd. That matters for how an investor should read the rest. This is not a mispriced outlier or a study that changes the company's trajectory; it is a solid, feasibility-level project sitting in the middle of a large diversified book, one of 16 we follow for this company. The value is in the placement, not the headline.
What the placement tells you is that the constraint is scale, not quality. The NPV sits well below the company's US$6.95B market cap, so this is not a needle-mover for a mid-cap of that size, and it should not be underwritten as one. The feasibility study is the build-ready estimate, typically carrying a plus or minus 15% band, so these figures deserve more weight than a scoping-level PEA would. Mine life of 48 years is long, and the comparison to the 2021 filing is flat: after-tax NPV up 0%, mine life up 0%. Four years of work has held the numbers steady rather than improved them, which is worth noting when a study is meant to de-risk a build.
The jurisdiction is the other half of the read. Northeastern Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range is a mature, mining-friendly district in the United States, which supports permitting and financing relative to higher-risk jurisdictions. The study's own assumptions are US$98/WLT blended wet pellet revenue on a three-year trailing average, with US$90/LT wet standard pellet for reserve evaluation. Those are the sensitivity that matters: the economics rest on pellet pricing holding near the levels the study itself has chosen, and an investor should test the NPV against weaker pricing rather than take the study's figure as given. The question that decides this project is whether a steady, mid-pack, feasibility-level asset in a good jurisdiction can justify the capital when the NPV is small against the company that owns it.
Our take, benchmarked against the project economics in the Mining Stocks database. Figures are estimates drawn from company technical reports — not investment advice; always verify against the source filing.
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