Consolidated Thompson Iron Mine moving towards production

Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Ltd. Said mine site development is near final completion and production has already begun at its Bloom Lake mine in Ontario. First shipments of ore from the port at Pointe-Noire will commence in May 2010. As of December 31, 2009, a total of C$463 million had been spent on the development of the Bloom Lake mine. 


CLM
commenced rapid development of the railroad and port infrastructures in 2009.
The railroad between the mine site to Wabush and the port facilities in
Sept-Iles is on schedule to be completed in April 2010. As of December 31,
2009, a total of C$112 million had been spent on this infrastructure. 


In
February 2010, the Corporation signed with Arnaud Railway Corporation, a
subsidiary of Wabush Mines,  a
ten-year rail transportation agreement to haul the iron ore concentrate from
Arnaud junction, where the railway connects to the QNS&L railway, to offloading
facilities located on the leased land from the Port of Sept-Iles at
Pointe-Noire.

"We are very proud of
the accomplishments of 2009. It was yet another year fulfilled with major
milestones in the development of the Bloom Lake project," declared Richard
Quesnel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Thompson.
"In light of the challenging economic conditions worldwide, we
successfully raised the necessary funds to ensure the completion of the
construction and thereby deliver a world class facility. With the signing of
the remaining transportation and lease agreements, we are on target to start
loading our clients’ vessels in May 2010 and are very excited with the future
prospects"