This article is a sponsored feature from Mining.com.au partner High Tide Resources. It is not financial advice. Talk to a registered financial expert before making investment decisions.
High Tide Resources (CSE:HTRC) is positioning itself at the forefront of Canada’s iron ore future, leveraging the unique advantages of the Labrador Trough to deliver the next generation of direct reduction feedstock.
With seasoned leadership, a rapidly expanding resource base, and access to low‑cost hydroelectric power, the company is responding to the global steel industry’s shift towards greener, more efficient production.
CEO and President Steve Roebuck and Executive Vice President Michael Zurowski are at the helm of High Tide, bringing significant experience across engineering, geology, and the iron ore industry from their work in Canada’s northern territories.
Roebuck and Zurowski are both firm believers that location can make or break a project, and their confidence in the Labrador Trough underscores that conviction.
“The Labrador Trough is somewhere very special,” Roebuck says.
“It sits at the intersection of iron ore and low-cost hydroelectric power. There’s no place like this in the world.”
Location is just one part of the story. High Tide’s broader narrative also focuses on scale and the product.
According to Roebuck, the company’s Labrador West Iron Project is already large, and it’s set to get even larger. The project is expected to produce high-purity, ‘high-grade’ concentrates and pellets to feed the direct reduction iron and electric arc furnaces for the low-carbon steelmaking industry.
Labrador Trough advantage
Extending around 1,100km across Québec and Labrador, the Labrador Trough benefits from strong and reliable mining and community infrastructure, a highly skilled workforce, established rail and port networks, and hydroelectric power.
In August 2026, the governments of Newfoundland and Labrador, Québec, and Canada jointly announced a new C$10 billion ($10.08 billion) power deal. The funding will support construction of a transmission line in Labrador, helping encourage new mining and industrial projects in the Labrador Trough.
The federal government is contributing approximately C$1 billion towards the new 735-kilovolt transmission line stretching from Churchill Falls to Labrador City. Once complete, the line will provide additional abundant, low-cost, hydroelectric power for the region.
“This is a game changer for us and means that we can definitively say that we’re a low carbon operator as we won’t need to use diesel fuel for power,” Roebuck says.
The southern Labrador Trough is already home to four operating iron ore mines, two in Québec and two in Labrador, and has more than 60 years of production, with over 2 billion tonnes (Bt) of iron produced. The region’s combination of high concentrations of iron ore and low-cost hydroelectric power makes it particularly unique.
Zurowski notes that beneficiating the ore requires significant amounts of power, with grinding accounting for one of the biggest energy costs involved in liberating usable metals.
The high-concentrate iron ore, grading 67–68% iron (Fe), makes an excellent pellet, which Zurowski explains provides real benefits. High purity is essential for direct reduction, and the Labrador Trough and Brazil are currently the leading producers of the high-purity pellets required for the process.
One of the main factors delaying the growth of the green steel industry is the lack of pellets suitable for direct reduction and electric arc furnaces.
High Tide’s Labrador West deposit is well suited to this market, with a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE), outlined in 2023, indicating a ‘high-grade’ product that can be processed into direct reduction-quality concentrate or pellets with very few deleterious elements.
“We’re doing metallurgical test work at the moment with Studiengesellschaft (SGA), a German group that’s owned by the German Steel Industry, and this work is essentially giving us the seal of approval for our test work,” Zurowski says.
Alongside the test work with SGA, High Tide also has just completed its summer drill program, with the second set of assay results from six drill holes recently reported.
The latest results show strong iron grades, with more than 77% of the 347m drilled returning above 20% Fe, and all 13 holes intersecting iron oxide mineralisation.
The drilling program is focused on expanding the deposit beyond the existing resource boundary.
In total, High Tide has completed 27 holes over 6,335m. All assay results will be incorporated into an updated MRE and a preliminary economic assessment (PEA).
“We’ve had the benefit of additional resources and have been able to actually expand the deposit quite a bit,” Zurowski says.
“This changes the calculation because when you start off on a PEA, the first thing you typically do is establish where your open pit is. And our open pit is constantly expanding at the moment.”
Direct reduction shift
The direct reduction process can cut carbon emissions by about 70% compared with the blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace route. For Zurowski, the technology also offers an extremely efficient use of capital.
“If you look at North America, Europe, and the more mature developed markets like Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, there has not been a new blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace built in the last 25 years,” Zurowski says.
“They’ve all been building electric arc and direct reduction furnaces because they’re scalable and a much more efficient use of capital.”
Direct reduction is not new technology, having been around for about 70 years. But, as Zurowski points out, it has become better and more efficient, encouraging potential producers to adopt it over other options.
These furnaces run on natural gas rather than coal, eliminating slag formation and delivering a product with very low impurities. Instead of melting the ore, the furnace reduces it directly to produce a product called sponge iron. This is a porous form of iron that has been stripped of oxygen and is ready for use in steelmaking.
Zurowski stresses that direct reduction also allows companies to scale production while maintaining similar operating costs, whether they are producing 500,000 tonnes or 2 million tonnes (Mt).
Natural gas is currently the fuel of choice, but the technology can also run on hydrogen, which could further reduce its carbon footprint. However, hydrogen remains too expensive and the price would need to drop significantly before it is a commercially viable option.
High Tide has looked at the potential for joint ventures with steelmakers, including integration into direct reduction and electric arc furnace operations. The furnaces’ use of natural gas substantially cuts carbon emissions, while also reducing sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other particulates.
Buyers are increasingly conscious of carbon, according to Zurowski.
“This awareness of carbon footprint is amazing, but few people want to pay a premium for green steel, especially if that premium is steep,” Zurowski says.
“They don’t mind paying a slight premium, but generally nobody likes the word premium. They want discounts.”
This forms the basis for High Tide’s strategy — to deliver feedstock into mature, developed markets at competitive pricing.
Green steel future
High Tide is targeting a role as a key supplier of feedstock to the low-carbon steelmaking industry. The company is pursuing future production of direct reduction-quality pellets and hot briquetted iron, the most common feedstock for direct reduction furnaces.
With strategic access to the Quebec North Shore and Labrador (QNS&L) railway, Labrador West connects directly to Sept-Îles and Pointe-Noire, Québec, two public ports that feed into the Great Lakes for the US and Canadian markets. The deep-water ports also support global exports to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
With abundant hydroelectric power, High Tide is advancing towards a near‑zero‑carbon mining operation to produce these iron ore pellets.
The only hydrocarbons used are in pellet induration, typically natural gas or coke, though plasma arc torches powered by electricity are being evaluated. While every source of heat releases some carbon, the company believes it is very close to achieving a zero‑carbon mining operation, positioning Labrador West as a cornerstone of Canada’s green steel future.
What’s next for High Tide?
High Tide Resources has been steadily building momentum, with drill programs expanding year on year. Roebuck says the company drilled 1,000m in 2020 and 2,300m in 2022 before briefly pausing to secure funding and accelerating again in 2026.
“As the expression goes, ‘a high tide floats all boats’ and this is doubly applicable to us in this moment,” Roebuck says.
The company is in a strong position this year, supported by elevated commodity prices across the board. Roebuck says the gold market’s strength earlier in the year provided a broader lift, with High Tide raising C$8.25 million and deploying the capital directly into exploration.
High Tide has just recently closed out its 2026 program, with results reported as the company receives them.
Roebuck stresses that this year is all about resource expansion and infill drilling.
“If you look at our latest press releases, you’ll understand that everything that we’ve drilled so far this year has been outside the existing mineral resource; and these results are even better than those inside the resource,” Roebuck says.
“We have a strong belief that we’re going to be able to expand our resource.”
Labrador West’s resource currently stands at 655Mt grading 28.8% Fe, but management is confident that ongoing drilling will push that figure up to about 1Bt.
Alongside drilling, High Tide has been advancing its baseline environmental studies, covering water and air quality, biodiversity, and more. The company plans to have half of that work completed in 2026, then wrap up the rest in Canadian spring 2027.
All of this work then feeds into a new MRE and PEA, expected to be delivered in 2027. High Tide is also exploring ways to reduce exploration costs, including shifting logistics from air to boat transport to move crews, equipment, and fuel more efficiently.
With resource expansion, environmental studies, and cost-saving strategies underway, the company believes it is well positioned to deliver a substantial program in 2027 and continue developing Labrador West as a key part of Canada’s green steel future.
High Tide’s story ultimately comes down to scale, demand, and location. Backed by an experienced management team and a busy program focused on expanding the resource, the company is working to supply the feedstock the green steel industry needs.
With Labrador West’s unique combination of iron ore and hydroelectric power, High Tide is aligning itself with the global push towards greener steel — proving that location, product, and scale together make a compelling case for Canada’s iron ore future.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
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