VANCOUVER,
Feb. 19, 2013 /CNW/ - Northern
Iron Corp. ("Northern" or the "Company") (TSXV: NFE) (OTCQX: NHRIF)
(FRANKFURT: N8I) today formally submitted a Project Description
("PD") for its Griffith Mine
Redevelopment Project with the Government of Canada. This comes after a three month
period of discussions and review of the draft PD with the Canadian
Environmental Assessment Agency ("the Agency").
The PD is the first major step in securing
environmental assessment ("EA") approval for the redevelopment of
the mine. After a formal ten day review of the PD for
completeness, the Agency will post an executive summary of the PD
on their website for 20 days in order to receive public
comments. A complete copy of the PD will be available on
Northern's website www.northernironcorp.com and a copy of the PD
will be lodged with the Town of Ear
Falls. First Nations in proximity to the mine site and
the local Metis Nation of Ontario
representatives will be contacted during this period and offered
the opportunity to be engaged with the EA.
"Given Griffith
is a past producing mine, we are confident that the permitting
process will go smoothly enabling us to reach our anticipated
schedule of being in production by 2016 and fulfilling off-take
agreements for 960,000 tonnes of HBI from Chinese customers,"
commented Basil Botha, President and
CEO of Northern. "We have engaged the local First Nations groups in
active conversations and are currently employing/contracting work
out to them as we move forward on dewatering the Griffith pit. Unlike some of the development
iron ore projects in the Labrador Trough, Griffith is year round accessible by road with
excellent infrastructure including rail, natural gas and skilled
labour. Once permitted, we can move quickly to get product to
market without waiting on large infrastructure projects to be
built."
After a statutory time period of 60 days, the
Agency prepares a set of Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Guidelines that will guide the EA process. Environmental
baseline studies are already underway and will be tailored to
conform with the Agency's Guidelines and best management practices
for conducting these studies. Northern is proceeding with
other components of the EA and permits which they plan on
submitting to the federal government by the end of 2013 so that
government approvals can be obtained by the summer of 2014.
This will allow Northern to keep on schedule in producing HBI in
2016 to honour their existing off-take agreements.
About Northern Iron Corp.
The Company is a 100% owner of five iron ore
properties in the Red Lake
district containing over 500 million tonnes of historical resources
with grades ranging from 22% to 31% Fe. The Red Lake district is situated in an
established mining area in Ontario, where the company has two near term
development projects, the past producing Griffith mine and the Karas property.
A qualified person has not done sufficient work
to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources,
the issuer is not treating the historical estimate as current
mineral resources.
The Company is currently working towards the
production of HBI, a transportable form of direct reduced
iron. HBI is complementary and a viable metallic alternative
to scrap steel. Quality scrap is a critical raw material in the
steel making process. With the diminishing supply of quality scrap
steel and ever increasing market demand, steel producers around the
world will be looking to secure alternative supplies of metallic
products.
As part of the business plan, the Company
acquired the past producing Griffith mine, which produced pellets and
sponge iron (Direct Reduced Iron/DRI) from 1968 to 1986. The
mine was owned and operated by STELCO and supplied pellets and
sponge iron to the Hamilton and
Nanticoke steel mills in
Ontario. The metallurgy of the
deposit has been proven over eighteen years of production.
Almost the entire transportation infrastructure
is currently in place to both produce HBI and to ship produced HBI
into the North American market via rail and lake barges and into
Asian markets via rail through the port of Prince Rupert. Existing infrastructure
includes all weather roads, 115kV power line, natural gas line,
rail bed and port facilities.
The Company is focusing on de-risking the
project by seeking out potential joint venture partners, off-take
agreements or a combination thereof.
Cautionary Statement
The foregoing information may contain forward-looking statements
relating to the future performance of the Company. Forward-looking
statements, specifically those concerning future performance, are
subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may
differ materially from the Company's plans and expectations. These
plans, expectations, risks and uncertainties are detailed herein
and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with the
TSX Venture Exchange and securities regulators. The Company
does not assume any obligation to update or revise its
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its
Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange,
securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or
disapproved the information contained herein.
SOURCE Northern Iron Corp.