Resource World Magazine

14 www.resourceworld.com a u g u s t / s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 6 Québec exploration recovering after four-year downturn by Simon Rees Q uébec is blessed with a broad range of metals and minerals and is probably best noted for its gold and iron ore, with noteworthy base and spe- ciality metals operations too. The three main mining zones comprise Nord-du- Québec, Côte-Nord and Abitibi-Témiscamingue, which received almost 96% of total mining investment in 2014. The province is consistently viewed as one North America's finest for mining, a position that appeared to be eroded a few years ago on worries about legislative changes that coincided with the down cycle's economic headwinds. There was also disappointment that the Plan Nord strategy, unveiled in 2011 to open up northern Québec and tap its latent min- erals, was replaced with a watered-down "The North for All" plan by the previous Pauline Marois administration. The current government headed by Philippe Couillard steadied the ship after winning power in 2014 and reinvigorated Plan Nord, seeking public and private investments that total $50 billion by 2035, with at least $2.5 billion coming from the public purse. "There has been less change than predicted," Bennett Jones mining specialist and lawyer Sander Grieve told Resource World when considering political and legislative developments. "Some of the parallel changes have been encouraging, while the re-announcement of Plan Nord was quite meaningful." Still, the fiscal burden of the down cycle has been tough to say the least. Total min- ing investment in Québec stood at $5.13 billion in 2012, sliding to a preliminary figure of $2.3 billion in 2015, according to the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ). Mineral shipment values stood at $8.48 billion in 2014, falling to a prelimi- nary figure of $7.44 billion for 2015, with $6.97 billion estimated for 2016. Retrenched production in Québec's part of the Labrador Trough weighs heavily here, stultified by weak iron ore prices. Arcelormittal recently announced it would not advance an expansion plan for its Mont-Wright operation. More eye-catch- ing was Champion Iron's acquisition of the Bloom Lake Mine via a subsidiary for $10.5 million from Cliffs at year-end 2015. Cliffs had acquired the mine for $4.9 bil- lion at the market top in 2011. But Grieve noted those entering the Trough cheaply were buying into a pos- sible opportunity with the added benefit of having the necessary infrastructure in place. "It's one of those classic Warren Buffet-style strategies where you go in the other direction," he said. "But it needs courage and patience, which are tough things to combine. However, if it's a cycle and it does return, then the guys with

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