‘Proof is in the pudding’ and the iron ore is there, says Tacora on Wabush Mines – by Stephanie Tobin (CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador – July 20, 2017)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

First employees getting hired, company will be in Lab West to prep for business by next summer

The company that purchased the Scully Mine in Wabush says it has a five-year deal with the world’s largest iron ore trader and hopes to have the operation back up and running by this time next year.

Tacora Resources is currently going through the Companies’ Creditors Agreement Act (CCAA) purchase process for the site, since the mine has been locked in creditor protection since being shuttered by Cliffs Natural Resources in 2014.

Matt Lehtinen, Tacora CEO and president, says his company has been looking at Wabush Mines since January 2016 and working hard these past eight months to buy and reopen the operation. “I really thought that we had found a diamond in the rough,” he said. “We saw a lot of potential.”

Tacora first visited the site in 2016 and did some testing to determine the viability of the iron ore content left in the ground. Lehtinen said what they found gave them enough hope to make an offer, as well as sign a five-year deal with Cargill, an international metals supply chain.

But Tacora wasn’t the only company interested in purchasing Wabush Mines; Alderon had a $1-million offer on the table to buy the mine and use it as a tailings waste site, saying the mine was at the end of its life and there wasn’t enough viable iron ore worth mining. That’s something Lehtinen said he disagrees with.

For the rest of this article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/tacora-wabush-mines-1.4213705