TIMMINS – While some opposition has emerged in other communities to the proposal by Noront Resources Inc. to create a new chromite ore processing facility in Northern Ontario, Timmins Mayor Steve Black is confident about the solid support from this city.
Noront, a junior mining exploration company, is the leading player in the Ring of Fire mining development and is looking at possible future sites for a chromite refinery in Northern Ontario.
Timmins is one of four Northern Ontario cities that have responded to a call for proposals from Noront. Other cities include Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay. All the bids were submitted in February and are currently being reviewed.
While Timmins considers the Noront bid a huge opportunity for economic development reasons, it is not quite the same in other communities. That is becoming apparent from news reports from a couple of the competing cities.
City of Greater Sudbury city councillor Deb McIntosh said in February she will advocate on behalf of Conniston residents who don’t like the idea of having a smelter located in that part of Sudbury. There is a website called saveconniston.ca where residents are invited to sign a petition against a smelter.
Earlier this week, another Sudbury councillor, Michael Vagnini, said he too has concerns. Vagnini said he never formally supported the bid and said Sudbury council members never took a vote on the Noront proposal.
In November, a meeting was held in Sault Ste. Marie where some citizens expressed concern that there was not enough public input, according to Kara Flannigan, a former provincial and federal Green Party candidate in that community.
For the rest of this article: http://www.timminspress.com/2018/03/07/city-confident-in-communitys-support-for-noront-bid