Is a turnaround in the cards for the Iron Range?

United Taconite's Thunderbird Mine
United Taconite's Thunderbird Mine sits inside the city limits of Eveleth, Minn. Cliffs Natural Resources announced Tuesday it will reopen the mine in Eveleth and a pellet plant in Forbes this fall.
Derek Montgomery | For MPR News 2014

Things are looking up on the Iron Range. On Tuesday, Cliffs Natural Resources announced it will reopen the United Taconite mine in Eveleth and a pellet plant in Forbes this fall.

That's after the company welcomed hundreds of workers back to its operations in Babbit and Silver Bay last month.

About 2,000 mine workers on the Range were laid off at the peak of the downturn late last year, plus hundreds more were out of work in related industries.

Despite the turnaround, there's still uncertainty about the industry's viability.

MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke about that with Tony Barrett, an economics professor with the College of St. Scholastica.