Mining

Mining Exploration in Labrador

Mining has been the economic mainstay of Labrador West for more than fifty years. The two primary mining companies are Rio Tinto the third largest mining company in the world, which operates as Iron Ore Company (IOC) of Canada in the town of Labrador City. The other is Arcelor/Mittal operating Wabush Mines in Wabush. Rio Tinto, IOC's major shareholder, is the third largest mining company in the world.

IOC operates the mine, concentrator, and pelletizer in Labrador City, while at Wabush Mines, the ore is mined and ground and shipped by rail as dry concentrate to Wabush Mines' Pointe Noire, Quebec pelletizing plant 440 km away. At Pointe Noire, the concentrate is rolled into balls and fired, ready for shipping at Sept-Isles' deepwater port.

Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC)

IOC is the largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets in Canada and generates more than $600 million in revenue. IOC has almost 2000 employees (in NL & PQ) and has given indication of an expansion of operations over the course of the next three years. Current mine life estimates are in the 100+ year range.
 

Wabush Mines

Wabush Mines is the second largest mining operation in the province, with the capability of producing 6.1 million tones of concentrate. Wabush Mines produced its first pellets in 1968 and has an annual capacity of 6 million tones. Current mine life estimates are in the vicinity of 20 years. This may change based on additional technological advances the company is exploring.
 

Other Iron Ore Projects in Labrador West

The LabMag Iron Ore Project is based on iron ore resources located on the Millennium Iron Range near Howell's River, Newfoundland and Labrador. Under the LabMag Limited Partnership agreement, ownership of the LabMag Iron Ore Project is 80% New Millennium Capital Corp. (NML) and 20% Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach (NNK). This is the first binding mineral agreement in Canadian history to provide this type of participation to First Nation partners.

The Bloom Lake Iron Ore Deposit is a 640 million tone ore body grading approximately 30% Fe. Bloom Lake is a world class development stage iron ore project, with a high recovery and 34 year mine life based on a Feasibility Study completed in April 2007. Bloom Lake is expected to be producing 7 million tonnes of 66.5% iron ore concentrate per year starting mid-2009.
 

Labrador Iron Mines (LIM)

Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Limited through its wholly owned subsidiary Labrador Iron Mines Limited (LIM) has acquired interests in mineral claims and mineral licenses containing an estimated 100 million tonnes of high grade iron ore in northwestern Labrador that was formerly part of the iron ore reserves and resources established by the Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOCC) prior to the closure of its direct shipping operations in the Schefferville area. Following completion of a proposed feasibility study, development of LIM's Labrador Iron Ore Project remains subject to receipt of operating permits and other necessary approvals from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Other Mineral Occurrences and Activities

A number of claims have been staked in the Labrador West region. Active claims in Labrador West are few and obviously dominated by the iron ore companies, but other companies have begun to increase activity in the area over the past few years. The more active activities include silica (quartzite), which is being shipped out semi-processed to Quebec for smelting. Other exploration/activity in the region includes mapping, whole-rock geochemical sampling and analyses and airborne geophysical surveys.

Manganese

Wabush Mines produces manganese which is used in the production of steel. Its goal over the past several years has been to lower the manganese content of its iron ore and then use the suitable tailings to produce a commercially acceptable manganese concentrate. Current and anticipated production is approximately 70,000 tonnes per year (Department of Natural Resources).

Silica

Labrador West holds potential for other mineral development, notably silica. Two deposits are attracting attention: 2907 Hill located 3.5 km NNW of Labrador City with a potential of 20 million tones of quartzite and a consistency suitable for use as "lump" silica and Fermont Highway located approximately 2.5 km west of Labrador City with a potential of 4 million tonnes of quartzite and a consistency suitable as a high-purity silica sand.

Graphite

Located 15 km from Labrador City, the ore body is estimated at containing over 10 million tones with a grade of over 20% graphite which is considered good by industry standards (Newfoundland and Labrador Mining Magazine, pg.15).

Dolomite

3 million tones of dolomite are thought to be located at the IOCC site. IN 1995, the company produced approximately 387,000 tonnes. It is used for making fluxed pellets are IOCC (Department of Natural Resources).

Aggregate

There are two granular-aggregate deposit areas in Labrador West. One is located on the QNS&L railway at the Emeril Railway siding near the exit to Labrador City with a deposit site of 80 million m3. The other is approximately 12 km west of Labrador City with a deposit site of approximately 1 to 5 million m3. Both are flaciofluvial terrace deposits (Granular Aggregates in Newfoundland and Labrador, Department of Natural Resources).