GRAND RAPIDS — Minnesota-based mining company Magnetation has filed for bankruptcy protection as the iron ore industry struggles with a global slowdown.

The company, based in Grand Rapids, said Tuesday it intends to continue paying suppliers and vendors as well as employee wages and benefits while it works through the Chapter 11 filing.

In a statement, officials said that Magnetation has already reached a deal with creditors to restructure debt and provide funding “to support long-term operations.”

The company recycles waste rock from taconite production on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, mining the waste piles left behind in the mining process. In February, it said it was closing an operation in Keewatin.

Magnetation CEO Larry Lehtinen said the company would emerge stronger.