VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Quebec-based project reviver Champion Iron has attained another milestone in its endeavours to restart mining at the high-grade Bloom Lake iron mine, after its subsidiary Quebec Iron Ore (QIO) reached an agreement with the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway Company (QNS&L) to transport iron-ore.
The agreement provides for iron-ore concentrate from the Bloom Lake property to be transported about 400 km on the QNS&L railway from the Wabush Lake junction, in Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador, to the Sept-Iles junction in Sept-Îles, Quebec.
“This agreement will ensure long-term access to some of the world’s largest consumers of iron-ore for our future high-quality product. The signing of this rail transport agreement also marks yet another significant milestone in the Bloom Lake restart,” chairperson and CEO Michael O’Keeffe stated on Tuesday.
ASX- and TSX-listed Champion acquired the Bloom Lake assets from Canadian affiliates of US iron-ore producer Cliffs Natural Resources that were subject to bankruptcy proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, in April 2016.
Champion holds 63.2% of QIO, with the balance owned by Ressources Quebec, acting as a mandatory of the Quebec provincial government.