UPDATE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2008

GRAND BLAST

On Thursday October 23, a “Grand Blast” was held at the mine to signify the grand re-opening of the historic Comstock/Mountain Lion Mine by Palladon Iron Corporation. At 11am there was a private ceremony for approximately 100 invited guests and dignitaries with speeches from the Mayor of Cedar City, County Commissioners, and Palladon Management. From 1 pm to 3 pm there was an open house that was attended by over 400 citizens of the Cedar City and Iron County area. It was a great day for everyone in attendance.

Figure 1: Dignitaries Getting Ready for the Blast

The St. George and Southern Utah University television stations both did stories on the opening and are shown below. These both provided a great overview of the festivities and the excitement felt by the crowd.

The second video can be viewed here

MINE SITE

Even though the festivities were a big part of the week, it did not stop the mine from continuing to operate. Figure 2 shows material from the stockpile being loaded into the Tipple and Figure 3 shows a completely “full” rail car. As you can see, the density of the material makes it so that the car is nowhere near physically full capacity when it is at it’s weight limit.

Figure 2: Loading of the Tipple Storage Bin

Figure 3: Fully Loaded Rail Car

THE PORT

We continue to move forward with the port in getting all of the facilities ready to receive ore. As soon as we know an exact date, we will let everyone know when the trains will leave the mine and when the first ship will launch. It has been decided by the shipping group and the end user that they will start with either a Panamax or Supramax vessel that will hold 60,000 and 100,000 tons, respectively.