https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/
Plan co-developed and submitted by 2 First Nations in the area, but faces pushback from others in region
The province has approved the terms of reference for an environmental assessment (EA) on the third and final road leading to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire in northern Ontario.
The terms of reference lay out the work plan — including the scope and issues to be considered — for the EA on the Northern Road Link, a proposed two-lane, all-weather road.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Toronto mining journalist hits PDAC 2023 with a primer on arrested development in the Far North
“Keep the faith.” It was an oft-used phrase by Richard “Dick” Nemis, a Sudbury native and colourful mining promoter whose company, Noront Resources, secured one of the largest land positions in the mineral-rich area of the James Bay known as the Ring of Fire.
Nemis clung to that motto even as he was being ousted by shareholders as the president of the junior mining company he helped establish in October 2008. It was personal blow since the exploration outfit was named after his father’s industrial fabrication company, started in the Nickel City in 1945, and still in operation today.
iking in the Hudson Bay Lowlands is like a game of hopscotch — in a swamp. A tapestry of colourful mosses indicates where it’s safe to step: the green and white spots are drier, while the rich red and copper patches can swallow you whole.
Aside from the stunted black spruce trees that dot the watery landscape, it doesn’t look like there’s much here. It’s quiet, except for the constant buzzing of mosquitoes and black flies. But Michelle Kalamandeen didn’t come all this way for what’s on the surface.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson pledges Ottawa will do better on advancing critical mineral production
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson vows to make government move faster and more efficiently in expediting approvals to put more Canadian mines into production ahead of the quickening global demand for critical minerals.
“There are a whole bunch of things we can do to make the processes move more effectively than they have in the past,” said Wilkinson.
A new leadership team including new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kristan Straub, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Annie Sismanian, has been appointed at Ring of Fire Metals, bringing with them decades of mining industry experience at a critical time in the company’s history.
The new appointments follow the recruitment of Stephen Crozier, Vice President Sustainability in August last year and long-standing employee Glenn Nolan’s transition to the newly created role of Vice President Indigenous Enterprises. Ryan Weston continues as part of the leadership team in the role of Vice President Exploration.
Internal emails obtained by The Narwhal appear to show a shift in relations between the two governments on the Ring of Fire. But some First Nations leaders say they’re still being left out
After a years-long stalemate over the far northern Ring of Fire, the federal government appears to have extended an olive branch to Ontario, resuming talks over the region’s future.
The province has asked with increasing impatience for the federal government to chip in about $1 billion for a road to the remote and environmentally-sensitive Ring of Fire region, 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont. — a move that could enable mining there.
https://www.northernminer.com/
Multinational Wyloo Metals has reiterated its commitment to establishing an Ontario-centric integrated critical minerals supply chain, CEO Luca Giacovazzi told The Northern Miner’s recent Global Mining Symposium.
The privately-held Australian company, part of billionaire Andrew Forrest’s business empire, has made an early commitment to see the nickel and concentrate produced out of its Eagle’s Nest project in Ontario’s emerging Ring of Fire (RoF) nickel-chromite mining camp processed and beneficiated in Canada.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Ring of Fire Metals CEO Steve Flewelling seeks balanced, faster approach to advance Far North nickel project
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson wants to avoid government duplication with the provinces in regulations and permitting in order to bring new critical mineral mines into production quicker. So does Ring of Fire Metals CEO Steve Flewelling.
But when it comes to proposed mine development in the James Bay region, Wilkinson insisted last month that no shortcuts will be taken in safeguarding the environment, protecting fragile peatlands, and in respecting the rights of Indigenous people and communities near any proposed mine site.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/
‘One thing I can say for sure is we are committed to placing that facility in northern Ontario’
While Sault Ste. Marie was identified in 2019 as the preferred site for a ferrochrome facility, Ring of Fire Metals, which owns several of the mineral deposits about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, says its still considering its options.
We first heard the words ‘Ring of Fire,’ connected to mining back in 2010. Now, 13 years later, the project hasn’t made much progress and has instead been marked by delays. The company that owns several of the mineral deposits northeast of Thunder Bay is now called Ring of Fire Metals.
https://www.thesudburystar.com/
CEO of Ring of Fire Metals also says mineral-rich area contains minerals coveted for the growing electric vehicle market
While chromite for the steel industry has been a major focus of developing the Ring of Fire in the province’s far north, the area is also rich in other minerals coveted for the growing electric vehicle market.
“We’re a firm believer that the Ring of Fire hosts multiple nickel deposits, not unlike Sudbury,” said Stephen Flewelling, CEO of Ring of Fire Metals, in a virtual presentation to a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday.
A new company name, a new political landscape, and a new Ontario Mines Minister have all come together as momentum continues to build swiftly around efforts to develop the multi-billion-dollar Ring of Fire region of Northern Ontario.
Stephen Flewelling, CEO of Ring of Fire Metals, recently rebranded from Noront Resources , gave an update of the projects in the Ring of Fire at the Central Canada Resource Expo conference in Thunder Bay. Flewelling talked about recent changes that are happening and what the future looks like.
Ring of Fire Metals (RoF Metals) has commenced two studies exploring the use of wind power and atmospheric carbon removal as part of planning for a net zero emissions mine in Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire.
Stephen Crozier, RoF Metals VP Sustainability, said the findings from a study of the wind energy resource conducted by global renewable energy company Windlab earlier this year were promising.
“Our primary focus in the development of Eagle’s Nest is to implement low emissions technologies throughout the operation, wherever possible,” he said.
Vital Metals bills itself as Canada’s first rare earth producer and decision to ditch projects could be significant
Australia’s Vital Metals Ltd. walked away from two Quebec-based projects earlier this week due to objections from the Kebaowek First Nation, the latest evidence that maximizing Canada’s potential to be a player in the energy transition will require a more sophisticated relationship with Indigenous communities.
The Sydney-based company had signed an $8-million agreement with Montreal-based Quebec Precious Metals Corp. (QPM) in August last year to acquire 68- and 100-per-cent interests in the Kipawa and Zeus rare earth projects situated in Quebec’s Témiscamingue region, about 90 kilometres northeast of North Bay, Ont.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Marten Falls and Webequie pursue their socio-economic development goals in shepherding Northern Road Link environmental impact process
If your First Nation community harbours great ambitions to become a major project proponent, Gordon Wabasse offers some sage and simple advice. “Be prepared.” Wabasse, the lands and resources director of Webequie First Nation, participated in a panel discussion on the Ring of Fire at the inaugural Indigenous-led Projects Forum in Toronto, Sept. 27.
Wabasse and other James Bay regional leadership spoke of his community’s groundbreaking journey as one of the two Indigenous proponents overseeing the design and environmental impacts of a proposed all-season road into Far North, an Ontario first.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd. has renamed Noront Resources Ltd., the junior Canadian exploration company it recently acquired, to Ring of Fire Metals, as the Australian resource heavyweight moves forward in its attempt to build what could be a cornerstone mine for Ontario’s nascent electric-vehicle industry.
Perth-based private equity firm Wyloo acquired Noront this year for $617-million after winning a fierce bidding war against fellow Australia miner BHP Group Ltd. Wyloo chief executive Luca Giacovazzi said in a release that it settled on the Ring of Fire name to recognize both the minerals district in which the nickel project is located, and to pay homage to Noront’s Canadian roots.
