Mesabi Daily News
Bill Hanna
Dick and Pam Backstrom are a lifetime mining couple.
How important is mining to their lives, their marriage, their family, their community? Well, when they talk mining, they often finish each other’s sentences. Literally.
The founders of IDEA Drilling who still continue as part-owners of the company, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last June.
IDEA is currently doing exploratory work for Twin Metals Minnesota, which has offices in the Twin Cities, Ely and Babbitt, and plans a long-term nonferrous mining project that would create more than 1,300 permanent jobs, thousands more spin-off positions for other businesses and vendors and about 5,000 construction jobs.
Read more: http://www.virginiamn.com/news/local/article_86515948-4106-11e3-b8bf-0019bb2963f4.html