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Canada
AMMC Operation (Fire Lake Mine, Mont-Wright Mine)

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 Location:
34 km SW from Labrador City, Quebec, Canada

  Address:
1000 Route 189 Mont-Wright
Fermont
Quebec, Canada
G0G 1J0
Phone+(418) 287-4700
EmailEmail
WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Financials
  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Iron Ore
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start1976
Mine Life31 years (as of Jan 1, 2021)
ArcelorMittal Mining Canada G.P. is a production stage property, including two deposits at Mont-Wright and Fire Lake, and another deposit at Mont-Reed. The deposit at Mont-Reed is currently in an exploration stage.
Latest NewsArcelorMittal reports fourth quarter 2022 results     February 9, 2023


Owners

Source: p. 114,115
CompanyInterestOwnership
POSCO International Corp. 15 % Indirect
ArcelorMittal SA 85 % Indirect
AMMC is structured in two partnerships ArcelorMittal Mining Canada G.P. and ArcelorMittal Infrastructure Canada G.P. (AMIC), which are both held at 85% by ArcelorMittal with a 15% noncontrolling interest held by 9404-5515 Québec Inc., a consortium constituted, among others, of POSCO, a South Korean Steel Company and China Steel Corporation. The mines at Mont-Wright and Fire Lake are owned and operated by AMMC.

Contractors



Deposit Type

  • Banded iron formation

Source: Source

Summary:

The Mont-Wright, Fire Lake and Mont-Reed deposits are all Lake Superior–type banded iron formations, the metamorphic equivalent to other iron formations within the Labrador Trough iron district. While Mont-Wright and Fire Lake are hematite-rich deposits, Mont-Reed has a greater ratio of magnetite.

The Mont-Wright and Fire Lake mines are part of the highly-folded and metamorphosed southwestern branch of the Labrador Trough. The most important rock type in the area is the specular hematite iron formation forming wide, massive deposits that often form the crest of high ridges extending for many kilometers in the Quebec Labrador area.

The Labrador Trough consists of Paleoproterozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks that extends for more than 1100 km, from the northwest corner of Ungava Bay south to Lake Pletpi. It forms the western part of a larger orogenic belt called the New Québec Orogen¸ which records the oblique convergence and collision of the Archean Superior Craton to the west and an Archean core zone to the east. The Labrador Trough largely represents a foreland basin and comprises three sedimentary cycles, which are together referred to as the Kaniapiskau Supergroup.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader

Source:

Summary:

Mont-Wright and Fire Lake are surface pit producing mines, with the mining operations carried out in conventional large-scale open pits employing industry standard technology and equipment to mine ore with grades averaging approximately 29% Fe.

The Mont-Wright mining complex and Fire Lake mine run day and night, 365 days a year, to produce more than 26 million metric tons of iron ore concentrate every year.

The Mont-Wright mining complex
This sector of operation consists of an open-pit mine, huge pieces of mining equipment, the crusher, concentrator, gigantic maintenance workshops, a warehouse with massive rooms and a train loading system.

Generally speaking, 2.6 metric tons or raw ore need to be extracted from the ground to produce one metric ton of iron ore concentrate. Drill operators drill deep 16-meter holes in line with a predetermined plan. These holes are filled with an explosive mixture that smashes the rock by blasting.

Once the rock is fragmented by blasting, it is loaded onto giant trucks by powerful shovels. The buckets of some of them have a capacity of 60 cubic verges (yards) and three or four loads are all it takes to load our largest 400-metric ton trucks – the first to make their appearance in Québec.

Fire Lake is an extraction mining site without a crusher or concentrator. Mining activities are carried out as at Mont-Wright but the mining equipment is smaller in size.


Crushing and Grinding
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Processing

  • Spiral concentrator / separator
  • Gravity separation
  • Centrifugal concentrator
  • Sintering
  • Rotary kiln & Electric furnace

Flow Sheet: Source
Source: Source

Summary:

All mined ore from Mont-Wright and Fire Lake is processed at the Mont-Wright processing plant, with material from Fire Lake brought in by train. Feed ore material is fed through the crusher and concentrated in the processing plant in Mont-Wright using a gravity separation method. Concentrate is shipped to PortCartier, Québec, Canada, via private railroad, to the pelletizing facilities and port operations. The main products sold are concentrate and a variety of pellets.

The concentrator at Mont-Wright consists of 8 silos to continuously receive the raw material crushed in the crusher. The blocks contained in the silos are carried to one of the seven autogenous grinders: the blocks of ore are broken down as they knock together. On leaving the grinders, the particles are sieved by vibration. The particles that are too large are returned to the grinding process and the others are directed to circuits of spirals for the concentration stage.

The 8,500 spirals enable the iron content of the raw ore to be increased via a centrifugal force principle: by adding water, the iron particles that are heavier than the tailings are separated by gravity. Concentrate with an iron content of over 66% is obtained while the tailings (mainly silica, better known as sand) is carried to the containment area that will be restored when mining is finished.

Once the water has been removed from the Mont-Wright concentrate, it is taken to the silo for loading onto trains that carry it to Port-Cartier, in four or five convoys a day.

Fire Lake is an extraction mining site without a crusher or concentrator.

The pelleting process operates with two production lines and its main stages can be summarised as follows:
- enrichment of the concentrate
- crushing of the concentrate
- filtration
- integration of additives and mixing
- sintering
- sieving
- baking.

The plant at Port-Cartier has enrichment facilities that enable the silica in the concentrate to be reduced if necessary, according to customer requirements for higher quality pellets.

After this optional stage, the concentrate is taken to one of the six grinding balls with water and additives. As they knock together inside the grinders, the balls – made of a very hard alloy – reduce the particles of concentrate to the size of a grain of dust.

The material obtained which resembles mud is pumped to one of the 10 vertical filters for partial drying. After this stage, the substance called filter cake is tipped into one of the three mixers where other additives are incorporated.

This mixture is taken into one of the 10 sintering disks positioned diagonally. These large saucers turn on themselves, forming the pellets with a rotating movement thanks to the centrifugal force and angle of the equipment.

The pellets then move to the sieving section which enables those of the right size to be selected. Pellets that are too large or small are redirected to the disks, while the ones of the right size are sent to the last stage, hardening. To do this, the brittle pellets (also called “green” pellets) are baked in one of the two large furnaces at a temperature of 1300 degrees Celsius.


Production:

CommodityProductUnits202120202019201820172016
Iron Ore Concentrate & Pellets Mt 222324242525
Iron Ore Pellets Mt 8.79.99.59.9
Iron Ore Concentrate kt 14,50013,90015,00015,400

Operational Metrics:

Metrics20212020201920182017
Ore tonnes mined 65.6 Mt67 Mt66.4 Mt70.7 Mt66.8 Mt
Annual production capacity 26 Mt of iron ore concentrate26 Mt of iron ore concentrate26 Mt of iron ore concentrate26 Mt of iron ore concentrate
Annual mining capacity 150 Mt

Reserves at December 31, 2021:
Mineral reserves for AMMC are estimated at a cut-off grade of 15% and a mass recovery of 34.9%.

Mineral resources for AMMC are estimated at a cut-off grade applied for all deposits is 15% Fe with a mass recovery of 34.9%.

CategoryTonnage CommodityGrade
Proven 2,042 Mt Iron 29.4 %
Probable 221 Mt Iron 29 %
Proven & Probable 2,263 Mt Iron 29.3 %
Measured 1,839 Mt Iron 28.3 %
Indicated 1,962 Mt Iron 29.7 %
Measured & Indicated 3,801 Mt Iron 29 %
Inferred 1,825 Mt Iron 28.8 %

Financials:

Units20212020201920182017
Revenue M USD 3,997  2,746  2,655   2,396   1,943  
After-tax Income M USD 1,713  849  766   636   617  
Operating Cash Flow M USD 2,310  922  1,045   735   947  



Heavy Mobile Equipment as of December 31, 2020:
Source: Source p.7
HME TypeModelQuantity
Loader Komatsu L1850 5
Shovel (rope) 11
Truck (haul) Caterpillar 793 55

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
Chief Operating Officer Guy Belleau LinkedIn Jun 20, 2022
General Manager - Processing Romain Precheur LinkedIn Jun 20, 2022
General Manager Operations Jennifer Blain LinkedIn Jun 20, 2022
Mining Director Michel Gagné LinkedIn Jun 20, 2022
VP Environment & Sustainability Grace Barrasso LinkedIn Jun 20, 2022

Staff:

EmployeesYear
1,000 2020

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Annual Report 2021
Fact Sheet 2021
Other 2021
Annual Report 2020
Corporate Presentation 2020
Fact Sheet 2020
Form 20-F 2019
Annual Report 2018
Form 20-F 2018
Annual Report 2017
Annual Report 2016
Fact Sheet 2016
Form 20-F 2016
Annual Report 2015
Form 20-F 2015
Other 2013
Corporate Presentation 2012
Corporate Presentation 2012

News:

NewsDate
ArcelorMittal reports fourth quarter 2022 results February 9, 2023

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