Exhibit 99.1
Mesabi Trust Press Release
May 2, 2024 04:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mesabi Trust (NYSE: MSB):
Receipt of Quarterly Royalty Report and Royalty Payment
On April 30, 2024, the Trustees of Mesabi Trust (NYSE: MSB) received the quarterly royalty report of iron ore shipments from Silver Bay, Minnesota during the quarter ended March 31, 2024 (the “Royalty Report”) from Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (“Cliffs”), the parent company of Northshore Mining Company (“Northshore”).
As reported to Mesabi Trust by Cliffs in the Royalty Report, based on shipments of iron ore products by Northshore during the three months ended March 31, 2024, Mesabi Trust was credited with a base royalty of $2,106,086. For the three months ended March 31, 2024, Mesabi Trust was also credited with a bonus royalty in the amount of $2,520,601. The royalty payment received by the Trust also included an increase of $279,222 as a result of positive adjustments related to prior quarters. In addition, a royalty payment of $153,738 was paid to the Mesabi Land Trust. Accordingly, the total royalty payments received by Mesabi Trust on April 30, 2024 from Cliffs were $5,059,648.
The royalties paid to Mesabi Trust are based on the volume of iron ore pellets and other products produced or shipped during the quarter and the year to date, the pricing of iron ore product sales, and the percentage of iron ore pellet production and shipments from Mesabi Trust lands rather than from non-Mesabi Trust lands. In the first calendar quarter of 2024, Cliffs credited Mesabi Trust with 1,006,692 tons of iron ore shipped, as compared to zero (0) tons shipped during the first calendar quarter of 2023. Cliffs’ Royalty Report reflected no additional third party arms-length sale transactions of iron ore pellets since reporting two low volume shipments of iron ore pellets to a single third-party customer in June 2023.
The volume of iron ore pellets (and other iron ore products) produced or shipped by Northshore varies from quarter to quarter and year to year based on a number of factors, including, among others, Cliffs’ decisions to idle Northshore operations (which occurred from May 2022 until April 2023), the requested delivery schedules of customers (including affiliates), general economic conditions in the iron ore industry, and production schedules and weather conditions on the Great Lakes. These multiple factors can result in significant variations in royalties received by Mesabi Trust (and in turn, the resulting funds available for distribution to Unitholders by Mesabi Trust) from quarter to quarter and from year to year. These variations, which can be positive or negative, cannot be predicted by the Trustees of Mesabi Trust. Based on the above factors, and as indicated by Mesabi Trust’s historical distribution payments, the royalties received by Mesabi Trust, and the distributions paid to Unitholders, if any, in any