The company reported quarterly production of 3.4 million crude metric tons (wt.) of high-purity 66.2 percent Fe concentrate for the period, up eight percent from last year. Sales for the quarter reached 3.5 million dry metric tons (dmt), which is comparable to the same period of the previous year, despite rail disruptions caused by a third-party train derailment at the beginning of the period and harsh winter conditions.
Cash cost C1, the direct cost of producing and shipping iron ore concentrate to ships in the port of September-Ile, including extraction, processing, transportation and port handling, amounted to approximately USD 60.5 per dmt, which is an increase of 12 percent on a quarterly basis, primarily due to planned semi-annual maintenance at both processing plants, as well as an increase of three percent year-on-year. Higher costs for land transportation and port handling, caused by lower volumes of traffic to the port due to train derailments and winter downtime, as well as a sharp increase in fuel prices in March related to the conflict in the Middle East, negatively impacted cash costs during the quarter.
High production rates were recorded at Bloom Lake: 20.9 million tons of material were extracted and transported during the quarter, which is three percent more than last year, thanks to additional loading equipment and improved use of dump trucks. The iron recovery rate increased to 80.6 percent, an increase of three percent year-on-year from 78.3 percent in the same period of the previous year.
Iron ore concentrate stocks stored at Bloom Lake and the port decreased to 1.3 million tons, down 13 percent from 1.5 million tons in the previous quarter, as sales exceeded production for the fifth consecutive quarter.
The company's Direct Reduction Pellet Feed (DRPF) project, designed to upgrade up to half of Bloom Lake's capacity to convert iron ore into DR quality pellets with an iron content of up to 69 percent, Champion said that commissioning is progressing simultaneously with construction work, and initial production tests were successfully completed in March 2026. The first commercial products ready for sale are expected by the end of the second quarter of 2026, and then production volumes will gradually increase. Total investments
