Northern Iron Corp. announced that dewatering operations are ongoing at its Griffith Mine iron ore pit in northwestern Ontario. Water is being pumped at an approximate rate of 53,000 litres per minute.
In a Dec. 3 release, company president
Basil Botha, president and CEO said: "Dewatering the Griffith
mine pit will allow our drills to get onto the first tier of benches
and the drill program should be completed over the summer months in
2013. The data will provide the necessary information to work towards
a preliminary economic assessment and take us another step closer to
achieving our objective of putting this past producing mine back into
production."
The company said 1.5 million cubic metres has
been pumped and the team is working towards pumping a further million
cubic metres for a total of 2.5 million cubic metres before shutting
down for the winter.
The company owns five iron ore properties, including its Griffith pit, in the Red Lake district containing over 500 million tonnes of historical resources with grades ranging from 22 per cent to 31 per cent iron.
Northern Iron plans to produce hot briquetted iron (HBI) and is promote as a "viable metallic alternative to scrap steel."
The Griffith mine produced pellets and sponge iron from 1968 to 1986 when it was owned by Stelco.
The company said transportation infrastructure is currently in place to both produce and ship HBI into the North American market by rail and marine, and into Asian markets by rail through the B.C. port of Prince Rupert.