Canada-based iron ore miner Champion Iron has announced that its subsidiary Quebec Iron Ore has restarted operations at its Bloom Lake mine facilities and it has delivered the first batch of 16,500 mt of high-grade 66 percent Fe iron concentrate.
According to Champion Iron, the decision to restart production at Bloom Lake was announced on November 15, 2017, and operations recommenced at the plant on February 16, ahead of schedule and within budget. With a capital expenditure of C$326.8 million, including C$157.2 million spent on upgrades ahead of the mine restart, Bloom Lake is a large-scale project which is set to bring about a new era of prosperity to Quebec’s North Shore region.
The mineral reserves for the mine are estimated at 411.7 million mt and the mine is forecast to generate more than C$15.1 billion in revenue over the next 20 years, underlining Bloom Lake’s potential to be one of the region’s leading long-life iron ore mines and a major contributor to both the Quebec and Canadian economies.
Quebec Iron Ore acquired Bloom Lake from US-based miner Cliffs Natural Resources in April 2016 and successfully delivered a feasibility study in March 2017, accordingly securing the necessary funding by October 2017, with the participation of Government of Quebec. The funding enabled Quebec Iron Ore to upgrade and optimize the facilities at both the mine and surrounding infrastructure.