Virginia billionaire Tom Clarke emerged victorious from bankruptcy court yesterday when he and his partners were the only group to show up for an auction to buy the former Essar Steel Minnesota in Nashwauk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported yesterday. Their bid of more than $550 million was accepted, resulting in what could be a new Iron Range force. The plan is to merge the company, now called Mesabi Metallics, with the Grand Rapids, Minn., and Reynolds, Ind., Magnetation properties that Clarke's group, Chippewa Capital Partners, bought out of bankruptcy on Jan. 30. Clarke said he plans to finish construction on the half-finished $1.9 billion Essar taconite project in Nashwauk, Minn. The project, which suffered financial woes and stalled construction over 10 years, was eventually scaled back before being shut down in July when Essar filed for bankruptcy with more than $1 billion in unpaid bills.
