The Ring of Fire (ROF) could become one of the most significant mining opportunities in Ontario in a century, according to a provincial government spokesperson.
The region, 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ontario, is rich in “globally-significant” minerals such as chromite and nickel — key ingredients in stainless steel, a material in big demand in countries like China and India.
Extending over a swath of hinterland the size of the Greater Toronto Area, east to Port Hope and north to Barrie, the ROF will require extensive infrastructure development, including access roads, rail and power.
The development and other major mining projects in Ontario’s north spell good news for builders in coming years but the construction industry is under pressure to develop a skilled labour pool to meet the demand.
Christine Kaszycki told delegates at the Ontario Construction Secretariat’s 12th Annual State of the Industry and Outlook Conference recently that to date $208 million has gone into exploration of what is estimated to be several billion dollars worth of development in the ROF. An additional $84 million will go into exploration this year.
Kaszycki, assistant deputy minister, Ring of Fire Secretariat, Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry (MNDMF), was a speaker at a session called Ontario’s Mining Industry — Growth, Opportunity and Challenges.
Responsible for the coordination and implementation of the ROF development opportunities, she said environmental assessments are under way by two mining companies, Noront Resources and Cliffs Natural Resources, which are slated for completion at the end of 2013.
Construction will follow shortly after, she told a packed ballroom. Cliffs targets production start in 2015; Noront in 2016.
To expect a private-public partnership (P3) to build that infrastructure is “reasonable,” Kaszycki said, adding there have been discussions with the federal government over P3 financing models and variations on that theme with the province.
“Ontario at the very least has to provide the service leases etc. to put transportation and any kind of infrastructure in place,” she said.
Meanwhile, construction will start this April at Vale’s $2-billion clean AER (atmospheric emissions reduction) project in Sudbury, Ontario.
The project will require 1,300 construction workers at peak construction over 2012-13, according to Mike McCann, Vale’s general manager, strategic infrastructure projects.
The second largest mining company in the world, Vale, formerly Inco, will require 2,000 external construction personnel for AER and other mining projects in northern Ontario.
Skilled trades shortages are inevitable and will continue to be an issue for some of Vale’s big Canadian operations, particularly in northern Ontario as projects ramp up, McCann told the OCS audience at the Hilton Hotel.
Metal forming workers, ironworkers, boilermakers, pipefitting and electrical trades are required surface mining operations, he said, adding that Vale has retained a consultant to assess employment needs and how to deal with skilled labour shortages.
Vale will take “a staggered approach” to hiring, putting priority on hiring local skilled trades first, the province second and the country third before going to the U.S. to recruit workers. From a construction materials perspective, the AER project is massive, he said. It will require 15,500 tonnes of steel and ducting; 24 kilometres of pipe; 235 kilometres of electrical cable; 1,400 metres of ladders; and, 9.4 kilometres of handrails.
The 32,000 metres of concrete needed is enough to fill 32 Olympic-size swimming pools, he pointed out.
The largest enviromental investment in the Sudbury basin, AER will reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 90,000 tonnes when completed in 2015. Construction of a new acid plant, secondary baghouse and reconstruction of the smelter converter facility will happen while existing facilities remain operational, he told delegates to the OCS event.
Mining in northern Ontario is a “bright light” in the province’s economy, said Sean Strickland, chief executive officer of the Ontario Construction Secretariat. But with that growth comes growing pains.
A recent Ipsos-Reid survey commissioned by the OCS indicated that contractors in the north are optimistic about the work ahead but a third of those polled were concerned about skilled worker and supervisor/foremen shortages, Strickland said. The OCS is a partnership of 25 organized building trade unions and management counterparts in the ICI sector.
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