thumb|upright=1.5|Lake Superior Iron Ranges
The Vermilion Range exists between Tower, Minnesota and Ely, Minnesota, and contains significant deposits of iron ore. Together with the Mesabi, Gunflint, and Cuyuna ranges, these four constitute the Iron Ranges of northern Minnesota. While the Mesabi Range had iron ore close enough to the surface to enable pit mining, mines had to be dug deep underground to reach the ore of the Vermilion and Cuyuna ranges. The Soudan mine was nearly 1/2 mile underground and required blasting of Precambrian sedimentary bedrock.
The banded iron formation in the range consists of a "interbedded sequence" of chert, magnetite and hematite. Eleven mines operated in the range, with five in the Ely area. The Ely Trough, a synclinal fold, produced 70 million metric tons from the Chandler, Pioneer, Zenith, Sibley and Savoy mines. The largest mine in the range, Soudan, was closed in 1962, and the last mine in the Ely area closed in 1964.
Despite the effort needed for the deep mining Soudan mine, the ore obtained was worth the effort; the quality of the hematite ore was so pure that two pieces could be welded.