NEW YORK — Canada’s Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Ltd. (LIM) and Tata Steel Minerals Canada Ltd. (TSMC) have entered a strategic relationship to develop iron ore operations in the Labrador Trough in Canada.

This will include joint development of LIM’s Howse deposit and TSMC’s Timmins 4 deposit, as well as cooperation agreements in logistics, property rationalization, and ancillary support and offtake arrangements.

LIM will sell to Tata Steel Minerals Canada a 51-percent stake in Howse, which has a resource of 28 million tonnes and is expected to be developed in 2020.

Significant savings can be achieved by processing Howse ore through TSMC’s Timmins-area plant, which is opposite the Howse deposit.

LIM will also receive a cash injection of Canadian $30 million ($29.2 million), and could acquire as much as 100 percent of the Timmins 4 deposit.

TSMC will have an option to inject as much as C$25 million ($24.4 million) into the Howse project to increase its interest to 70 percent. 

A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Steel First.