Northwestern Ontario iron-ore mine developer revives Bending Lake project: Ambershaw Metallics proposes open pit, pellet mill in entering environmental approvals process.

• Date: 01 September 2019

A once-dormant iron deposit in northwestern Ontario appears to be on the development track with new owners that want to build an open-pit mine and a pellet plant to feed the steel industry.

Ambershaw Metallics filed documents with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) in mid-July to start the public commenting period on its mine project, 48 kilometres southeast of the community of Ignace.

It's the first step to determine if a federal environmental assessment process is necessary.

If all goes well on the regulatory and permitting front, the company hopes to begin site clearing during the winter of 2021-2022 with production starting in late 2024 or early 2025.

Ambershaw is sitting on a 335-million-ton reserve of iron ore on a 165-square-kilometre property on the west end of Bending Lake. It's enough to sustain an operation for 30 to 40 years, producing an average of 23,000 tons of ore per day.

In its project description filed with the agency, Ambershaw proposes an open pit 3.2 kilometres in...