U.S. company signs collective agreement to restart Wabush Mines – by Andrew Topf (Mining.com – June 13, 2017)

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Miners at the closed-down Wabush Mines in Labrador could be back on the job thanks to the recent signing of a collective agreement with the union. Five hundred people were thrown out of work in 2014 when Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) shut the gates on the operation in Western Labrador.

Last week however the United Steelworkers Union had good news to share, telling its members it signed a five-year collective agreement with Tacora Resources, an American company without a functioning website, for the Scully Mine operation.

Part of Wabush Mines, Scully Mine began operating in 1965, with iron concentrate railed to a pelletizing facility in Pointe Noire, Quebec, for shipment to Europe and throughout North America. Before it closed in 2014, a victim of low iron ore prices, Wabush Mines was Canada’s third largest iron ore operation, with an annual capacity of 6 million tonnes. The site since then has been tied up in regulatory proceedings.

“We began discussions with Tacora well over six months ago, maybe more, and they were interested in buying the mine. After several meetings we felt that we had a good, a serious bidder for the mine,” Tony DePaulo, assistant director of the USW, told the CBC.

Before the mine can re-open, however, it needs approval from the provincial government, since the facility is currently under the protection of creditors. The site generated some excitement in March when it was revealed that four companies offered to put down a $750,000 down payment to buy Wabush Mines.

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