Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation (TSX:LIF)
Intro Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation (LIORC) doesn’t mine anything, yet it gets paid before almost anyone else at one of Canada’s largest iron ore producers. Its roots go back to a 1938 agreement with Newfoundland, under which a predecessor company won the rights to explore and mine in Labrador West. Those lands are subleased to the Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC), which is operated and 59% owned by Rio Tinto, with Mitsubishi holding 26%. LIORC collects a 7% gross royalty on everything IOC sells, plus 10 cents per tonne, and owns the remaining 15% of IOC. Set up as an income fund in 1995 and converted into a corporation in 2010, it is widely held, debt-free and passes nearly all its cash on to shareholders. 2026 has been miserable. IOC is deep into a multi-year “operational reset” to catch up on deferred waste removal, and haul truck problems have made things worse. Iron ore has meanwhile dropped to a two-year low. The shares sit 37% below their 52-week high. Valuation ...