Good reason for optimism around Ring of Fire progress – Point of View – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – May 12, 2012)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper and Brian MacLeod is the managing editor. brian.macleod@sunmedia.ca

When a mining project moves from pre-feasibility to the feasibility stage, it’s often done through a news release and follow-up interviews with the press. It’s a significant step, but not usually the whopper we saw this week when U.S. firm Cliffs Natural Resources made its announcement.

What made this one different is the size — $3.3 billion all told — and the announced location of a proposed $1.8-billion ferrochrome smelter in Sudbury to process material from the Ring of Fire chromite deposit in northwestern Ontario.

As well, Cliffs officials indicated they had come to an understanding with the province on the cost of power. And so we saw press conferences in Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Cleveland on Wednesday. While people in Greater Sudbury were happy, the Liberals took a beating elsewhere.

In Thunder Bay, Mayor Keith Hobbs slammed Ontario Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle, whose riding is Thunder Bay- Superior North, refusing to shake his hand, saying “it was like coming to a funeral” on the way to the press conference. Several First Nations lamented a lack of consultation, the NDP wants all or most of the material mined in the Ring of Fire processed in Ontario, and Progressive Conservative mines critic Norm Miller issued a statement saying, “I’m not convinced that the mining landscape in the North is any different today than it was yesterday.”

Some perspective is helpful.

The difference between a pre-feasibility study and the feasibility stage — common terminology in the mining industry –is that the latter includes more technical engineering and better cost projections that are used to identify the necessary level of investment.

The 5,000 sq-km Ring of Fire is going to be extensively developed. But before plans for mining and processing can come to fruition, they must clear federal and provincial environmental assessments, agreements must be negotiated with several First Nations, a deal with governments on infrastructure (including a $600-million all-weather road) must be worked out and Cliffs must complete its own detailed technical studies.
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