IOCC History - Completion

Click on Photo for larger view.		The Carol Project had been estimated to cost over $400,000,000. It was completed slightly over budget with all completion dates were ahead or on schedule. The construction of the Carol Lake Concentrator was completed in 1962. In July of that year both the Concentrator and Smallwood Mine were officially opened. To commemorate the opening, a gala event was held at the Ashuanipi Social Club with Joseph R. Smallwood, Premiere of Newfoundland and Labrador, as the keynote speaker. Start-up of the concentrator was accomplished with very few problems; in fact, it performed so well that the mine, at times, failed to supply the needed raw ore.
As stated above, a pellet plant facility had been included in the original plan. The construction of this facility began in 1961 and completed in April of 1963. Although the concentrator had no major problems during start-up, the pellet plant outshone even that accomplishment. Within the first year the pellet plant was producing at an incredible 95% of rated capacity; this was almost unheard of in such a mammoth project. Almost immediately the Carol Lake Project pellet became the standard by which all other pellets were compared. In order to accommodate the new product line from Carol, a second dumper and pellet-handling surge pile was installed and commissioned in Sept-Iles.