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Recognizing that feeding the blast furnaces’
insatiable appetite was best done by securing
its own reliable and internal supply of iron ore,
Dofasco entered into the mining business via
a partnership in 1961 with Stelco Inc. and
Cliffs Natural Resources to run Wabush Mine
in Labrador. An instant town was constructed
and by 1964, more than 2,000 people lived
there. Ultimately Wabush would grow to
20,000
inhabitants.
In 1965, Dofasco then moved closer to home
with the development of the Sherman Mine
near Temagami, in Northern Ontario. The
Sherman Mine, which operated until 1990,
was home to the fabled Sherman Lodge, where
company executives entertained customers and
business colleagues.
The company ventured into a third mining project
in 1970 with the Adams Mine near Kirkland
Lake in northern Ontario which also operated
until 1990. Just before its closure, in 1989, the
company purchased 50% of Quebec Cartier
Mining at Fire Lake, Mont Wright and Port Cartier,
subsequently becoming sole owner in 2005.
ArcelorMittal Mines Canada’s Mont Wright open
pit mine is the largest of its kind in North America.
The site is linked by company rail to the Port
Cartier industrial complex, which is comprised of
the pellet plant, storage areas and port facilities
for shipping. Many of the ships in Port Cartier are
loaded with ore that will wind its way through
the St. Lawrence Seaway, to the ArcelorMittal
Dofasco docks in Hamilton Harbour and ultimately
into the blast furnaces.
ArcelorMittal Mines expansion plans include the
proposed development of a once inconceivable
arctic iron ore mine on North Baffin Island, 1,000
kilometres north of Iqualuit where there is 24 hour
darkness from November through January with
ice fields as far as the eye can see, and 24 hour
sunlight from May through August. The project is
the largest mining development ever planned in
Canada and by far the largest mining development
ever planned above the Arctic Circle. 
Feeding the furnaces