VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Champion Iron Ore announced the official restart of the Bloom Lake mine, near Fermont, Quebec, on Wednesday, providing a healthy economic injection to the region through the employment of 450 people.

Hitting a significant milestone only 19 months after acquiring the mothballed high-grade iron-ore asset on the cheap, the company’s TSX-listed equity gained as much as 15% during Wednesday's trading hours.

The mine’s restart dovetails into an upswing in benchmark iron-ore prices of 4.44% since the start of November, noting that its high-purity direct shipping ore attracts a significant premium owing to the high iron content.

“Today, the eyes of the world are focused on an iron of exceptional quality, one of the best on the planet. And it’s right here,” said QIO executive chairperson and CEO Michael O’Keeffe.

After acquiring Bloom Lake in April 2016, subsidiary Quebec Iron Ore (QIO) has secured the necessary funding and has been upgrading and optimising the facilities, procuring offtake partners and forming mutually beneficial alliances with the host community.

QIO’s business plan is based on the mine’s long‑term operation, optimising the separation circuit which is designed to significantly improve the ore recovery rate and contribute to a very efficient plant. Significantly, the mine restart required an investment of more than $160-million, in which the Quebec government is a 36.8% partner.

“So today all the steps have been completed. Even though the challenges were huge and the amount of work colossal, our ambition and determination have always been the same: to restart this mine, which has a high potential, while respecting communities, the development of the region and Quebec’s economic interest. We really look forward to the operations phase, and are very happy to contribute to this new sense of pride within a community that we care very deeply about.” added O’Keeffe.

The company’s TSX-listed stock closed up 6.67% at C$1.28 a share.