Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Limited (LIMH) holds approximately 52% of the shares of Labrador Iron Mines Limited (LIM) and LIM's wholly-owned subsidiary Schefferville Mines Inc. (SMI).
LIM directly holds the group’s iron properties located in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and SMI directly holds the group’s iron properties located in the province of Québec.
On March 17, 2023, LIMH entered into an amalgamation agreement with its majority owned subsidiary, LIM, whereby, the Company will acquire all of the shares of LIM that it does not currently own.
As of June 30, 2024, the LIMH is authorized to complete the amalgamation, but has not yet done so. The LIMH currently holds approximately 52% of LIM.
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Summary:
The Houston Project is located within the Knob Lake Iron Range, which is located on the western margin of the Labrador Trough adjacent to Archean basement gneisses.
The Labrador Trough, also known as the Labrador-Québec Fold Belt, extends for more than 1,000 km along the eastern margin of the Superior craton from Ungava Bay to Lake Pletipi, Québec. The belt is approximately 100 km wide in its central part and narrows considerably to the north and south.
The Knob Lake Iron Range consists of tightly folded and faulted iron formation exposed along the height of land that forms the boundary between Québec and Labrador. At least 45 hematite-goethite iron deposits have been discovered within the Knob Lake Iron Range in an area 20 km wide that extends 100 km northwest of Astray Lake. The iron deposits occur in deformed segments of the iron formation, and iron mineralization of interest in individual deposits varies from one million to more than 50 Mt.
The Houston and Malcolm property iron deposits are composed of iron formations of the Lake Superior type. The Lake Superior type iron formation consists of banded sedimentary rocks composed principally of bands of iron oxides, magnetite, and hematite within quartz (chert) rich rock, with variable amounts of silicate, carbonate, and sulphide lithofacies.
The Sokoman Formation was formed as chemical sediment under varied conditions of oxidation-reduction potential (Eh) and hydrogen ion concentrations (pH) in varied depth of seawater. The resulting irregularly bedded, jasper bearing, granular, oolite, and locally conglomeratic sediments are typical of the predominant oxide facies of the Superior type iron formations, and the Labrador Trough is the largest example of this type.
The earthy bedded iron deposits are a residually enriched type within the Sokoman iron formation that formed after two periods of intense folding and faulting, followed by the circulation of meteoric waters in the fractured rocks. The enrichment process was caused largely by leaching and the loss of silica, resulting in a strong increase in porosity. This produced a friable, granular, and earthy textured iron mineralization. The siderite and silica minerals were altered to hydrated oxides of goethite and limonite. The second stage of enrichment included the addition of secondary iron and manganese, which appear to have moved in solution and filled pore spaces with limonite goethite. Secondary manganese minerals, i.e., pyrolusite and manganite, form veinlets and vuggy pockets. The types of iron mineralization developed in the deposits are directly related to the original mineral facies. The predominant blue granular iron mineralization was formed from the oxide facies of the middle iron formation. The yellowish-brown iron mineralization, composed of limonite-goethite, formed from the carbonate-silicate facies, and the red painty hematite iron mineralization originated from mixed facies in the argillaceous slaty members. The overall ratio of blue to yellow to red iron mineralization in the Schefferville area deposits is approximately 70%:15%:15% but can vary widely within and between the deposits.
The Houston Project focusses on iron mineralization that is amenable to potential production of lump and sinter products by dry sizing only . Historically, this mineralization was categorized by IOC based on chemical, mineralogical, and textural compositions summarized as follows:
• The blue ores, which are composed mainly of the hematite and martite minerals, are generally coarse grained and friable. They are usually found in the middle section of the iron formation.
• The yellow ores, which are made up of the limonite and goethite minerals, are located in the lower section of the iron formation in a unit referred to as the silicate carbonate iron formation (SCIF).
• The red ore is predominantly a red earthy hematite. It forms the basal layer that underlies the lower section of the iron formation. Red ore is characterized by its clay and slate-like texture.