ARCELORMITTAL MINES CANADA
CANADA production from 16 to 24 million tons of iron ore by end of 2013 .
“ We hit the run rate of 24 million late last year in November and things look good to make 24 million again this year ,” says Steve Wood , president of ArcelorMittal Mining Canada G . P . He continues , “ It ’ s pretty phenomenal to get those rates right after an expansion project . It ’ s an exciting time in terms of expansion and maximizing benefit of our investment .”
Part of the latest expansion involved the commissioning of new spiral lines and a concentrating plant with additional upgrades to the railway and port in Port-Cartier .
Wood believes with a few minor improvements ArcelorMittal can reach an even higher production rate . “ We can see a day where with a few minor tweaks we can go above name plate capacity ,” says Wood .
Overall , the expansion project included :
• Commission of new spirals line at concentrator
• New trucks and maintenance shop operational
• Additional rail sidings completed
• New concentrator completed
• New stacker-reclaimer and shiploader in commissioning
• Concentrate production exceeded 2Mt in December 2013
• Shipments of 1.987 Mt in
December 2013
• Costs benefiting from scale
The province of Quebec is benefiting from the expansion as well . Income taxes and mining rights revenues will account for over $ 3 billion , which will assist the government through 2039 . Quebec will also profit from increased export capacity of goods overseas , consolidation of the mining sector in general and community development .
“ Our job here is to get world class levels of performance in every aspect of the business in terms of productivity , maintenance , and reliability of equipment ”
– Steve Wood , President of ArcelorMittal Mines Canada
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