Sault, Timmins still in hunt for smelter – by Brian Kelly (Sault Star/Sudbury Star – July 14, 2018)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sault Ste. Marie is one of two Northern Ontario communities still being considered for Noront’s ferrochrome processing facility. The company announced late Friday afternoon Sudbury and Thunder Bay are no longer prospective locations.

Timmins also remains a candidate for a project that’s expected to create 300 to 500 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs. “I think we just need to keep working and recognize that this is a process,” Mayor Christian Provenzano told The Sault Star on Friday. “It’s quite a lengthy process. We will just keep focused on it and we will keep doing our best to encourage business to locate to Sault Ste. Marie.”

The final phase of Noront’s site selection process, now underway, centres on “substantial negotiations” with owners of the two favoured sites. In the Sault, that’s Algoma.

“There’s lots of elements that we really liked about that particular site,” said president and chief executive officer Alan Coutts. Attributes include road and rail access, Port of Algoma and close proximity to the community.

Algoma has agreed to negotiate with Noront for the land needed for the facility. Additional industrial zoned land owned by the municipality is nearby. “(The) immediate stage is really between Noront and Algoma,” said Provenzano. “The city has done everything it can to make this happen.”

For the rest of this article: http://www.thesudburystar.com/2018/07/14/sault-timmins-still-in-hunt-for-smelter