According to media reports, the government of Quebec is mulling the purchase of a 32-kilometer rail line and port facilities that service Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.’s shuttered Bloom Lake iron ore mine, to possibly prepare the mine to reopen with under new ownership. With the mine logistics under state responsibility, reports say that could lower the operating costs of the mine by $20/ton.
Production at Bloom Lake halted in January as the company sought creditor protection—Cliffs spent $1.6 billion on the facility after purchasing it in 2011 and estimates another $1.2 billion would be required for the mine to operate at full capacity.