A private-public partnership

The Société ferroviaire et portuaire de Pointe-Noire s.e.c. (SFP Pointe-Noire) is a limited partnership whose general partner is controlled by a private-public partnership comprising the Québec government and a consortium of companies in the natural resource industry.

In 2016, through the SFP Pointe-Noire the Québec government acquired the railway and port infrastructure situated in the Pointe-Noire sector.

The objective is to ensure multi-user access to the SFP Pointe-Noire’s services in the natural resources sector or any area of activity that can take advantage of its assets and strategic positioning.

Through the development of its 500 ha of land available for industrial development, the SFP Pointe-Noire also hopes to serve as a vehicle for regional economic diversification.

To date, the establishment of the SFP Pointe-Noire has facilitated the relaunching by Quebec Iron Ore of operations at the Bloom Lake Mine, by Tacora Resources of the Scully Mine, and the establishment by Englobe of the Pointe-Noire Soil Treatment Centre.

Since 2016, the volume of iron ore concentrate that the SFP Pointe-Noire has handled has risen steadily and exceeded 9 Mt at the end of the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

Claude Lafleur is a company director and an Anges Québec investor. He is also the President of Gestion Piroches-sur-Mer, a private consulting firm that manages several financing and consultation mandates for Canadian businesses.

He served as Chief Executive Officer of La Coop fédérée from 2005 to 2014, the longest term served in that position in the institution’s nearly 100-year history.

Before he joined La Coop fédérée, Claude Lafleur was the Director General of the Union des producteurs agricoles. He has also worked for the Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. An agro-economist by training, he first studied at Université Laval, then completed the course work for a master’s degree at Michigan State University, then at HEC – Montréal, where he obtained an MBA.

Claude Lafleur embodies the culture of success. He is recognized for his unifying leadership, which has facilitated the initiation and realization of the major changes in his organization, its assets and staff demanded by changing production methods, the nature of local and international markets, and the nature of competition.

Claude Lafleur’s social involvement is significant. Aside from his active involvement in Centraide of Greater Montreal, he has chaired or co-chaired fundraising campaigns for the Centre des femmes de Montréal, the Fondation québécoise en environnement, Équiterre, and the Théâtre du Nouveau-Monde. He is also a member of the funding office of the Université de Montréal (faculty of veterinary medicine) and Université Laval (faculty of agriculture), and an entrepreneur-trainer at the École d’Entrepreneurship de Beauce.

David Cataford holds a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from Université Laval. He joined Champion Iron in 2014, after working for 15 years in the iron industry and in the Labrador Trough. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Champion Iron on April 1, 2019. In the position of Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Cataford played a key role in the management team and oversaw the successful resumption of operations at the Bloom Lake Mine. He brilliantly managed the construction and commissioning of the site in addition to assembling a team comprising more than 400 leading talents in the mining industry. Before he joined Champion Iron, he occupied several decisive management positions with Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.

His experience in the realm of iron ore mining includes ore characterization projects at Bloom Lake and for ArcelorMittal at Mount Wright, and the adaptation of the recovery circuit to satisfy new customer demands to maximize profit margins. David Cataford is also the cofounder of the North Shore and Labrador Mineral Processing Society.