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CHAMPION IRON REPORTS ITS FY2025 THIRD QUARTER RESULTS, ADVANCES THE DRPF PROJECT AND INITIATES KAMI FEASIBILITY STUDY WITH PARTNERS

In This Article:

  • Quarterly production of 3.6M wmt, sales of 3.3M dmt, revenue of $363M and EBITDA of $88M1

  • DRPF project advancing on budget and as scheduled for commissioning in December 2025, including an additional $69M deployed in the quarter with cumulative investments to date of $288M

  • Entered into a binding agreement with Nippon and Sojitz to form a partnership to evaluate the Kami Project and initiated a definitive feasibility study

MONTRÉAL, Jan. 29, 2025 /CNW/ - (Sydney, January 30, 2025) - Champion Iron Limited (TSX: CIA) (ASX: CIA) (OTCQX: CIAFF) ("Champion" or the "Company") reports its operational and financial results for its financial third quarter ended December 31, 2024.

Champion's CEO, Mr. David Cataford, said, "Our workforce demonstrated their responsiveness and ingenuity during the breakdown of a critical piece of equipment in the period. While events inevitably impacted quarterly results, Bloom Lake has proven its operational stability in the last several years, providing the foundation to grow our position as a leading high-purity iron ore producer. As such, our DRPF project continues to advance towards an expected commissioning in December 2025, further aligning our Company with the green steelmaking transition which supports higher pricing premiums for our products. Additionally, the rare quality of our high-purity iron ore resources, local support and operational expertise enabled our Company to attract global industry leaders as partners for the Kami Project. This newly formed agreement provides an opportunity to further evaluate the Kami Project, including initiating a definitive feasibility study, which is expected to be completed by mid-2026."

Conference Call Details

Champion will host a conference call and webcast on January 30, 2025, at 9:00 AM (Montréal time) / January 31, 2025, at 1:00 AM (Sydney time) to discuss the results of the financial third quarter ended December 31, 2024. Call details are set out at the end of this press release.

1. Quarterly Highlights

Operations and Sustainability

  • During the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, no major environmental incidents were reported; however, one non-fatal incident occurred involving a contractor at the DRPF construction site;

  • Quarterly production of 3.6 million wmt (3.5 million dmt) of high-grade 66.3% Fe concentrate for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, up 14% from the previous quarter and down 10% over the same period last year;

  • In December 2024, shipments were negatively impacted by a 14-day interruption due to the breakdown of a critical piece of equipment at the Bloom Lake mine's train load-out facility, which is utilized to ship iron ore concentrate by railway to the port of Sept-Îles (the "Load-Out"). During this period, the Company stockpiled its production and took the opportunity to complete additional maintenance, which impacted production. Despite this interruption, quarterly iron ore concentrate sales were 3.3 million dmt for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, comparable to the previous quarter and the prior-year period;

  • Iron ore concentrate stockpiled at Bloom Lake increased slightly to 2.9 million wmt as at December 31, 2024, compared to 2.8 million wmt as at September 30, 2024, primarily as a result of events at the Load-Out. The Company is confident that the iron ore concentrate currently stockpiled at Bloom Lake will decrease in future periods. The Company believes that the receipt of 400 railcars, and additional rolling stock recently commissioned by the rail operator should improve the rail shipment capabilities in the near-term; and

  • Record material mined and hauled at Bloom Lake totalling 20.0 million tonnes for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, up 8% from the previous quarter and 10% from last year. The Company also achieved monthly sales in November of almost 1.6 million dmt, driven by 1.4 million wmt of concentrate transported from Bloom Lake, and by the loading of the two largest vessels in the Company's history.