Analysis
NAICS 212210 is the 2022 national industry for iron ore mining, part of 21221 (Iron Ore Mining). Census lists 15 example activities under it in the official index.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments grew 21% and employment rose 10%. The 2018 count used NAICS 2017, so part of a large move can come from codes being redefined rather than from businesses opening or closing.
County Business Patterns counts 23 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 5,004 people at an average annual payroll of $105,653 per employee (87th percentile of national industries). 26% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which is close to the national mix.
Its index entries, the activities Census uses to assign businesses to this code, include agglomerates, iron ore, beneficiating, briquets, iron, mining and/or beneficiating, brown ore mining and/or beneficiating and hematite mining and/or beneficiating, among 15 in all.
Its goods appear in 6 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 2601 (iron ores and concentrates, including roasted iron pyrites). That link is how import data is matched to domestic producers, for example in trade-remedy cases.
For example, manufacturing pig iron ore are classified in 331110 (Iron and Steel Mills and Ferroalloy Manufacturing) instead.
Official definition
This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in (1) developing mine sites, mining, and/or beneficiating (i.e., preparing) iron ores and manganiferous ores valued chiefly for their iron content and/or (2) producing sinter iron ore (except iron ore produced in iron and steel mills) and other iron ore agglomerates.
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.
Not this code if…
| The business mainly does | Use instead |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing pig iron ore | 331110 Iron and Steel Mills and Ferroalloy Manufacturing |
Index entries (15)
- Agglomerates, iron ore, beneficiating
- Briquets, iron, mining and/or beneficiating
- Brown ore mining and/or beneficiating
- Hematite mining and/or beneficiating
- Iron ore (e.g., hematite, magnetite, siderite, taconite) mining and/or beneficiating
- Iron ore agglomerates mining and/or beneficiating
- Iron ore beneficiating plants (e.g., agglomeration, sintering)
- Iron ore mine site development for own account
- Iron ore, blocked, mining and/or beneficiating
- Limonite mining and/or beneficiating
- Manganiferous ores valued for iron content, mining and/or beneficiating
- Siderite mining and/or beneficiating
- Sintered iron ore produced at the mine
- Taconite concentrates or agglomerates beneficiating
- Taconite ores mining and/or beneficiating