The development of one of Canada's richest mineral areas, the Ungava district of Québec-Labrador, is documented in this story of modern science and engineering brought to bear on a bleak and formidable land. The film, produced originally for a CBC school telecast, tells how a railway was built from the seaport of Seven Islands to the rich Knob Lake iron ore deposits hundreds of miles inland, enabling ships to carry the ore to Great Lakes steel mills.