Feds invest $500K in iron sands project
North Atlantic Iron Corp. will use money for pilot program
On
Monday Bernard Valcourt, minister of state for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and Peter Penashue, regional minister for Newfoundland and Labrador, announced North Atlantic Iron Corp. (NAIC) will carry out a pilot project to collect minerals, such as iron ore concentrate, from ore sands near Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
Valcourt was in town to give NAIC $500,000 towards the project on behalf of the federal government.
“North Atlantic Iron Corp. will carry out a pilot project to collect and separate ore sands in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, with our investment of $500,000.00 provided through the Business Development Program,” he said.
Valcourt says the funding will help NAIC extract iron from the rich ore sands in and around Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
He said if the company is successful, it will pave the way to advance the development of iron sands in Labrador.
“New companies and expanding business means new jobs. It means economic growth for Labrador. It also means opportunities for companies throughout Atlantic Canada and jobs for all Canadians,” Valcourt said.
He said the potential in Labrador and large projects, such as Muskrat Falls, would create thousands of jobs as well as business opportunities once developed.
“In the mining industry, we are seeing sustainable jobs created and business developed through new mining started, with the expansions of existing mining operations,” Valcourt added.
Valcourt said the pig iron will be extracted using electricity.
Once the iron is extracted the sand will be returned to where it was gathered, leaving little impact on the environment, Valcourt said.
Francis MacKenzie, president of NAIC, said the pilot plant is up and running, as of Monday, near one of the airport hangers.
“We are quite excited at what this separation plant will do,” he said.
MacKenzie said without the contribution from the federal government, it would have taken much longer to make the plant operational.
“We have invested over $15 million to get the plant up and running, and believe that another $15 million will still need to be invested,” he said.
MacKenzie says having partners such as the federal government sends a strong message to the industry.
“It sends a very, very powerful message to all of the steel mills — we are speaking about throughout the world. It also sends a powerful message to our partners from South Africa,” he said.
MacKenzie says if the federal government makes an investment it means that it believes in the company and is willing to take a risk.
“We are going to be responsible because it is taxpayers’ money. We all have a responsibility here as Canadians to generate some economic development,” he added.