Russian steelmaker Severstal has stated that its affiliate International Iron Beneficiation Group Limited (IIBG) has launched a preliminary feasibility study to consider the viability of building a granulated iron facility in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. Currently, the locations under active consideration in North America are Sydney, Nova Scotia, Sept-Îles, Quebec, both in Canada, and sites in Minnesota, Kentucky and Indiana in the US. The feasibility study for Sydney, Nova Scotia will be initiated first, to be followed by investigation of a few other sites during the course of 2013. A decision on whether to proceed with a project and its sequence will be made at the completion of these studies.