Canadian iron ore miners suspend operations due to wildfires

Wildfires sweeping through Canada have led some iron ore miners in the country's eastern region to temporarily idle operations, according to company statements.

A spokesperson for Champion Iron said July 15 that the company would provide further updates "in due time as the situation changes for its operations." Additionally, the company said July 13 that it would temporarily shut down operational activities at its Bloom Lake mine in Fermont, Quebec, in response to forest fires north of its operations.

Meanwhile, Iron Ore Co. of Canada was also initiating a coordinated temporary shutdown of its operations in response to the fires, part-owner Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp. said in a July 13 statement.

"There have been no injuries or damage to company infrastructure to date," a spokesperson for IOC majority shareholder Rio Tinto said July 15. "We will initiate a restart of operations as soon as government authorities indicate that it is safe to do so."

The announcements from the miners followed an evacuation order for Labrador City that the provincial government issued July 12.

"With the forest fires now only a few kilometers from Bloom Lake and to prioritize the safety of its employees, the company initiated its emergency response protocol and is gradually evacuating its workforce," Champion said in its July 13 statement.

The company said it initiated preventive measures to protect higher risk facilities and is collaborating with local and regional authorities and mobilized teams, including its fire brigade, to mitigate the impact of the forest fires on its infrastructure.

Champion owns and operates the Bloom Lake Mining Complex through its wholly owned Quebec Iron Ore subsidiary. The open-pit operation has two concentrators with a combined nameplate capacity of 15 million mt/year and produces a low contaminant high-grade 66.2% Fe iron ore concentrate with a proven ability to produce a 67.5% Fe direct reduction quality concentrate, according to the company.

Champion produced 14.16 million mt of iron ore in the 12-month period ended March 31, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows.

Iron ore concentrate from Bloom Lake is sold to customers globally, including customers in China, Japan, the Middle East, Europe, South Korea, India and Canada, according to the company.

IOC, a producer and exporter of premium iron ore pellets and high-grade concentrate, is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (58.7%), Mitsubishi (26.2%) and the Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Corp. (15.1%).

IOC produced 16.48 million mt of iron ore in 2023, according to Rio Tinto's annual report. IOC operations include a mine with five operational pits, a concentrator and a pelletizing plant located near Labrador City, and the wholly owned 418-km Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway, which links the Labrador operations to company-owned port facilities in Sept-Iles.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the 62% Fe Iron Ore Index at $108.75/dmt CFR North China July 15, up 75 cents from July 12.