Geneva Steel

Geneva Steel was a steel mill located in Vineyard, Utah, founded during World War II to enhance national steel output. It operated from December 1944 to November 2001. Its unique name came from a resort that once operated nearby on the shore of Utah Lake.

Construction

The Geneva Steel mill was constructed with federal funds from November 1941 to December 1944 by Columbia Steel Company and US Steel corporation. Vineyard, Utah, was chosen as the location for the new plant because iron ore, coal, limestone, and other resources necessary for primary steel making are located nearby; and because Vineyard is far inland, away from possible Japanese attack on the West Coast.

Geneva Steel operated as a US government facility until June 1946, when it was sold for $47.5 million to US Steel, a vast underbid compared to the mill's estimated $144 million value.

Operation

The plant was an integrated steel mill. Raw materials were shipped here by rail, processed into steel and steel products, and then reshipped by rail to their final market. The plant, in addition to having all of the facilities for primary steel making, included on-site conversion of coal into coke, plus other facilities for post processing of coal byproducts, including production of inorganic fertilizers. Blast furnaces converted raw iron ores into pig iron, and final conversion into steel was via open hearth furnaces. Rolling mill facilities for forming steel into plate, pipe, and some structural shapes were also...
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