Canada is in a unique position in which it exports almost
all of its domestically produced steel raw materials and
imports pellets, coke, and coal from the US to satisfy
most of its steelmaking needs. Canada’s iron ore supply
is expected to reach 60Mt in 2022, up from 58.3Mt in
2021.
Canadian production is expected to reach 70Mt in
medium to long term, mainly from the expansion of
Champion Iron’s Lake Bloom iron ore mine in Quebec
and potentially from Mary River iron ore mine phase 2 in
Nunavut.
Canada's government is committed to carbon neutrality
by 2050. The government expects that the carbon
emissions drop by 40–45% by 2030 compared with
2005 levels. To realize the targets, Canada's
government has launched Net-Zero Advisory Body
(NZAB) in 2021 to advise the Minister of Environment
and Climate Change. The country insists that DRI and
critical minerals are key factors to achieve the targets.
Therefore, there are a strong projects pipeline with the
ability to produce high grade products that could be
acceptable in the DR grade market.

Champion Iron
Champion Iron has received government approval for an
expansion of its Lake Bloom mine in Quebec, Canada.
The expansion will double the mine's production
capacity to 15Mtpa and expand the mine life of 20 years.
The start of commercial production of phase 2 is
expected by the end of 2022. The company is planning
to invest C$400m (US$312m) in the expansion project.
In addition, the company will need to pay C$20m
(US$15.6m) for financial compensation for the loss of
fish and wetland habitats as nearly 800Mt of mining
waste will be deposited in eight lakes.
Champion Iron’s iron ore products is a cleaner supply
source for the global steel industry, due to the
company’s use of renewable energy technologies. The
company is trying to meet global emission reduction
targets. The company has committed to reduce GHG
emissions by 40% by 2030, using a 2014 emission
intensity baseline.
In May 2022, Champion signed a definitive purchase
agreement to acquire Pointe Noire iron ore pellet plant in
Quebec, Canada for C$2.5m (US$2m). The plant is
located directly adjacent to port facilities that Champion
currently uses. It was commissioned in 1965 with
production rate of 6Mtpa, and was put on care and
maintenance in 2013. In the meantime, Champion
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a
major international steelmaker to complete a feasibility
study to evaluate restarting operations at the pellet plant
to produce DR grade pellet. The proposed acquisition
represents a strategic opportunity for the company to
further deploy its vision to contribute to the green
steelmaking supply chain.
Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC)
IOC’s Carol Lake mine, concentrator, pellet plant
complex is adjacent to Labrador City in the province of
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and around
420km by rail from its export port on the lower Saint
Lawrence River. The complex commenced production in
1963 and is owned and operated by the Iron Ore
Company of Canada (IOC). Shareholders in IOC are Rio
Tinto (58.7%), Mitsubishi Corporation (26.2%) and the
Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation (15.1%).
The Carol Lake mine produces ~18Mtps of high grade
iron ore concentrate, of which ~10Mtpa is feed to Carol
Lake pellet plant to produce ~ 4Mtpa DR pellet and
~6Mtpa of BF pellet. The DR pellet production output
could potentially increase output to 5Mtpa by 2025. The
major customers are from Middle East countries,
Trinidad and the US.
In October 2021, Rio Tinto released a longer term
decarbonisation strategy. It aims to reduce its Scope 1
and 2 carbon emissions by 15% and 50% by 2025 and
2030, respectively, compared with 2018 levels. Rio Tinto
is also focused on developing technologies such as
hydrogen or plasma torches which can use renewable
energy to potentially replace fossil fuels for heat and
steam. Four plasma torches were ordered in 2021 for a
trial at IOC’s pellet plant.
ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal invests C$205m (US$166m) in its
PortCartier pellet plant in Quebec, Canada. The
construction phase of the project in Port-Cartier is
scheduled to begin in mid-2023, and construction is
expected to be completed before the end of 2025. After
the project is completed, the plant will convert its entire
10Mtpa pellet production to DR pellets and become one
of the world’s largest DR-grade pellet plants. The project
includes the implementation of a flotation system that
will enable a significant reduction of silica in the iron ore
pellets, facilitating the production of a very high-quality
pellet. The most of DR pellets are used in ArcelorMittal’s
Canadian DRI plants. It also shipped ~1Mtpa of DR
pellets to its DRI plant in Hamburg, Germany.
ArcelorMittal’s Dofasco DRI is planned to be built at
ArcelorMittal Dofasco Steel, which is located at the
western end of Lake Ontario on the St Lawrence
Seaway in Hamilton, Ontario. ArcelorMittal Dofasco will
transition to steelmaking via DRI and EAF route. It will carry a lower carbon footprint and respective capacities
of 2Mtpa and 2.4Mtpa. They are tentatively scheduled to
go on stream before the end of 2028. The new DRI
furnace will run initially on natural gas but will be ready
to use 100% hydrogen when it becomes available,
according to ArcelorMittal's announcement. By using
pure hydrogen as the iron smelting agent, the company
could make CO2-free iron. The investment is contingent
on support from the governments of Canada and
Ontario. The Government of Canada announced it will
invest C$400m (US$321m) in the project.
Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation
Baffinland Iron Mines’ Mary River iron ore mine was
allowed to temporarily produce between 4.2Mtpa to
6Mtpa from 2018 to 2021. Baffinland submitted an
emergency order in May 2022, requesting to truck and
ship 6Mt of iron ore in 2022, in compliance with all
environmental permit limits. The Canadian federal
government approved a production increase in 2022,
following a recommendation from the Nunavut Impact
Review Board (NIRB) in September. The government
said that it agrees with NIRB’s recommendation that the
potential for significant negative environmental and
socio-economic impacts from the proposal can be
effectively managed.
Baffinland is still awaiting a separate decision from the
federal government on its Phase 2 expansion project at
Mary River. NIRB rejected it in May 2022. The Board
said that the expansion would significantly affects
ecosystems for marine mammals. The proposed Phase
2 expansion project would involve constructing a 110km
railway from the mine site to the port site, adding a
second ore dock at the port and increasing production to
12Mtpa along the northern transportation corridor. The
total investment is estimated at ~US$1.3.
