Northern Iron Begins Dewatering the Griffith Pit

VANCOUVER, Oct. 24, 2012 /CNW/ - Northern Iron Corp. ("Northern" or the "Company") (TSX-V: NFE) (OTCQX- NHRIF) (FRANKFURT: N8I) today announced that the dewatering of the north pit on the past producing Griffith mine commenced on October 22^nd. The permit to dewater the pit was granted by the Ministry of Environment on August 15^th, 2012 to pump out the first 25 meters of water.

Basil Botha, Northern's President & CEO stated, "Dewatering is an important milestone that will enable us to position diamond drills on the benches and drill out the resource. This event brings us another step closer to reaching our objectives in working towards putting the Griffith mine back into production. The first phase of the dewatering program will begin at a rate of approximately 72,000 litres a minute (19,000 gallons) and will be discharged into Bruce Lake, which is an adjoining water body that covered the Griffith property prior to the construction of dykes to permit the mining of the ore body." Botha continued, "The majority of the residents and town councils of the towns of Ear Falls, Red Lake and Dryden see the dewatering program as a major step in bringing much needed jobs to north-western Ontario."

About Northern Iron Corp.

The Company is a 100% owner of five iron ore properties in the Red Lake district containing over 500 million tonnes of historical resources. The Red Lake district is situated in an established mining area in Ontario, where the company has two near term development projects, the past producing Griffith mine and the Karas property.

The Company is currently working towards the production of HBI, a transportable form of direct reduced iron.  HBI is complementary and a viable metallic alternative to scrap steel. Quality scrap is a critical raw material in the steel making process. With the diminishing supply of quality scrap steel and ever increasing market demand, steel producers around the world will be looking to secure alternative supplies of metallic products. 

As part of the business plan, the Company acquired the past producing Griffith mine, which produced pellets and sponge iron (Direct Reduced Iron/DRI) from 1968 to 1986.  The mine was owned and operated by STELCO and supplied pellets and sponge iron to the Hamilton and Nanticoke steel mills in Ontario. The metallurgy of the deposit has been proven over eighteen years of production.

Almost the entire transportation infrastructure is currently in place to both produce HBI and to ship produced HBI into the North American market via rail and lake barges and into Asian markets via rail through the port of Prince Rupert.  Existing infrastructure includes all weather roads, 115kV power line, natural gas line, rail bed and port facilities.

The Company is focusing on de-risking the project by seeking out potential joint venture partners, off-take agreements or a combination thereof.

A qualified person has not completed sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources, the issuer is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources.

Cautionary Statement

The foregoing information may contain forward-looking statements relating to the future performance of the Company. Forward-looking statements, specifically those concerning future performance, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the Company's plans and expectations. These plans, expectations, risks and uncertainties are detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with the TSX Venture Exchange and securities regulators.  The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.     

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.  No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved of disapproved the information contained herein. 

SOURCE: Northern Iron Corp.

Basil Botha
President & CEO
Northern Iron Corp.

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.northernironcorp.com

Follow us on Twitter: @NorthernIC