[ferro-alloys.com]Cartier Iron is suspending work on its Big Easy gold project near Clarenville, Newfoundland, to focus on its 55%-owned Lac Penguin iron ore deposit in Gagnon, Quebec, the company said Friday.

The company will define and build on the existing resource base at the Lac Penguin site, which hosts a 531 million mt mineral resource grading 33% total iron.

"With the resurgence of interest in the global iron ore market, [Cartier] deemed it time to continue to build the Lac Penguin deposit in size with both exploration and definition drilling, and understanding, as we build on the mineralogical studies and preliminary metallurgical testing Cartier Iron has completed to date," CEO Tom Larsen said.

In order to prepare the property for an exploration program later this year, Cartier will dispatch a technical team after winter breakup, it said.

The decision to suspend work at Big Easy will remain in place until the market and regulatory conditions improve for early stage exploration, it added.

Cartier earned a 55% interest in Lac Penguin after an amended agreement with Champion Iron Ltd. unit Champion Iron Mines in January 2018.

（S&P Global Platts）

• [Editor:王可]