IRON ORE: Arcelor Mittal suspends Mt. Wright mine expansion

QUEBEC – With no thanks to poor markets, ArcelorMittal announced late last week that is suspending an expansion project at the Mt. Wright iron mine. It has cancelled an overburden removal program that was to have started this month and would have extended the life of the project to 2045. The decision was based on the project cost, "fairly high" mine production costs, low iron ore prices and global competition, said ArcelorMittal spokesman Paul Wilson. Current annual production at Mt. Wright is 27 million tonnes. ArcelorMittal is in talks with its unions concerning the future of the expansion project. The Mt. Wright mine employed 2,500 people. The ArcelorMittal Mining Canada website is at www.TransformerLavenir.com/en/.