Mining Railway, Road and Other Infrastructure – Page 16

The Wetum Road: How much is connecting James Bay to the provincial highway worth? – by John Michael McGrath (TVO.org – April 05, 2016)

April 7, 2016

Stories from the Wetum Road, click here: http://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/the-next-ontario/tvo-on-the-road-the-wetum-road

MOOSONEE, Ont. — The argument for a permanent year-round road to James Bay is pretty simple for the people who live there.

“Bottom line, what we’re trying to do here is lower the cost of living,” says Ryan Small, director of technical services for the Mushkegowuk Council, a coalition of seven First Nations in Ontario’s northeast. “The time we get to use the winter roads is getting shorter and shorter. Building access for our communities is important.”

Building a year-round road from the closest point on the provincial highway system north to James Bay will be daunting.

Ring on federal radar: MP – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 27, 2016)

March 29, 2016

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Historic investments in infrastructure and education for First Nations will help advance the Ring of Fire, says Sudbury Liberal MP Paul Lefebvre.

In Tuesday’s federal budget, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau allocated $8.4 billion to be spent on First Nations in the next five years, with much of it to be invested after the Grits’ first term.

There was no specific mention of other infrastructure investments in the rich chromite deposits in the James Bay Lowlands in the budget. Lefebvre said no projects were identified anywhere in Canada, but billions will be invested in such projects.

Federal budget 2016: northeastern Ontario leaders wait on infrastructure funding (CBC News Sudbury – March 22, 2016)

March 22, 2016

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

The latest Wynne government budget assumes Ontario will get an extra cash for transit and highway projects

Northern MPs are waiting to see how much funding will be available for infrastructure when the federal government tables its first budget today.

They’re also hoping to get money for the Ring of Fire, a mineral-rich development project on the James Bay Lowlands.

The Liberals have committed to doubling their investment in infrastructure, and Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus tells CBC News it’s the right thing to do.

Warming climate helps north Canada miners ship supplies, melts locals’ ice roads (Reuters India – March 9, 2016)

March 10, 2016

http://in.reuters.com/

TORONTO, March 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Global warming is making it easier for resource companies to ship supplies through Arctic waterways in northern Canada, but harder for remote communities to truck in food on winter ice roads, mining industry officials and indigenous leaders said.

Shifting transportation patterns in the far north due to the changing climate are expected to reduce the cost of mining and other projects in once frozen coastal areas, while raising the price of goods for residents and businesses operating inland.

Ice roads, built on frozen waterways, have until recently provided crucial winter transportation links to northern communities which have no regular road access.

‘Mother Nature’ making it tough for James Bay winter roads (CBC News Sudbury – February 29, 2016)

February 29, 2016

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

About $2 million spent on winter roads that run between Attawapiskat and Smooth Rock Falls

This time of year it’s a lot easier to get around Ontario’s far north, thanks to winter roads — but those who build these transportation routes out of ice and snow say it’s getting harder as winters get warmer.

This year, a lack of snow and wonky weather in general, saw both the 170 km Wetum Road that runs south from Moose Factory and the ice road that runs along the James Bay Coast from Moosonee to Attawapiskat, delay opening until late January.

Peter Wesley, who manages the Wetum Road for Moose Cree First Nation, told CBC News there was so much pressure from the public that crews worked around the clock to get it ready.

Nunavut adds huge Grays Bay road-port scheme to its shopping list – by Jim Bell (Nunatsiaq News – February 29, 2016)

February 29, 2016

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Nunavut Resource Corp., GN, would work together on proposed Kitikmeot transport system

As federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s budget speech looms March 22, the Government of Nunavut has added another piece of transportation infrastructure to its shopping list: the Grays Bay Road and Port Project.

That project would revive the moribund Izok corridor zinc-lead mining project touted by Chinese-owned MMG Resources Inc. and form the first phase of a long-dreamed-about all-weather road between Yellowknife and the Arctic Coast.

Without a port and road, MMG’s two proposed mines, at High Lake and Izok Lake, are not viable — and the project has been mothballed since April 2013.

Ontario court ruling opens up potential road access to ‘Ring of Fire’ mineral belt – by Peter Koven (Financial Post – February 25, 2016)

February 25, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

TORONTO — The planned development of Northern Ontario’s “Ring of Fire” mineral belt got a potential boost on Wednesday when an appeals court ruled that a small junior mining firm should not have exclusive access to a transportation corridor.

The decision opens the door to construction of a north-south road to the Ring, which is thought to contain about $60 billion of chromite and other minerals. The Ontario government supports a road, in part because it would link up with remote First Nations communities.

In 2009, a Toronto-based company called KWG Resources Inc. staked more than 200 mining claims going from the Ring of Fire all the way down to the CN rail line in Exton, Ont. Effectively, this gave KWG control over a crucial 340-kilometre access route to the mineral belt.

Is the road to the Ring of Fire open to all? – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – February 25, 2016)

February 25, 2016

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

KWG Resources no longer has exclusive rights on a strategic transportation corridor to the Ring of Fire.

On Feb. 25, an Ontario appeals court upheld a divisional court ruling from last year that allows other mining companies to apply for an easement to use the 340-kilometre long route into the remote exploration camp in the province’s Far North.

According to a news release issued by Noront Resources: “The decision allows a proponent to apply for an easement along the corridor without requiring the consent of the claim holder (KWG).”

Noront inherited the court case when it acquired the chromite deposits belonging to Cliffs Natural Resources last spring.

Can ‘superblimp’ unlock hidden riches of Africa? (CNN.com – February 24, 2016)

February 24, 2016February 24, 2016

http://www.cnn.com/

Mining consultant Stan Sudol, publisher of respected industry website republicofmining.com,
agrees the ship could be a game changer, that will allow commodities to be fast-tracked to
market “They can be used to set up initial mine site development for less cost in a faster time-
frame as no local airstrip is necessary to start cargo delivery,” says Sudol.

(CNN)Best known for floating aimlessly above sports stadiums, and for their slightly comic, bloated shape, blimps are an unlikely subject for a 21st century revival.

But after 20 years of development, Lockheed Martin and Hybrid Enterprises are poised to unleash a revolutionary new design that could unlock resources worth billions of dollars across the African continent.

The Hybrid Airship is a helium-powered craft that can cover thousands of kilometers in a single journey, with a top speed of 60 knots. The craft can take off and land without a runway, and the cavernous interior can carry loads of 20 tons.

Africa’s costly missing rail links – by Gavin du Venage (The National – February 20, 2016)

February 22, 2016

http://www.thenational.ae/

CAPE TOWN // Transporters moving goods across Africa put up with a lot: bandits armed with AK-47s, elephants using a fender to ease an itch and thieves who run alongside slow moving vehicles to siphon diesel out of the tank into Coca Cola bottles.

Then there are border posts, police checkpoints and various other forms of bureaucracy that can hold up lorries for days. Often, bribes and spurious fines also need to be paid before cargo can move.

It is hardly surprising that according to the African Development Bank it costs twice as much to transport goods across many countries on the continent than it does anywhere else in the developing world.

Mild winter blocks access to ice roads in remote Ontario reserves – by Julien Gignac (Globe and Mail – February 6, 2016)

February 8, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Many remote First Nations communities in Northern Ontario are suffering the effects of one of the mildest winters on record: Roughly 60 per cent of ice roads connecting dozens of reserves to southern municipalities have yet to open. Most of those that have opened can only sustain light traffic – snowmobiles or small, half-ton trucks.

Frigid temperatures are welcomed in the region, as ice roads function as lifelines to otherwise landlocked First Nations, expediting the transportation of such supplies as diesel fuel, building materials and food. Sometimes community members themselves make the trip to Thunder Bay to stock up on essentials. Without winter roads, northern communities have been forced to ship supplies by air, a costly endeavour.

“Nothing’s moving,” said Darrell Morgan, president of Morgan Fuels, which is a top distributor of fuel in the Northern Ontario region. “The lack of ice is a tough go. We supply some communities with fuel through air freight, but it’s extremely expensive.”

KWG Resources turns to China for help in Ring of Fire (Northern Miner – January 21, 2016)

January 21, 2016

http://www.northernminer.com/

A railway design and engineering company owned by China Rail Construction, one of China’s three major state-owned rail groups, is teaming up with KWG Resources (CNSX: KWG) to study design and financing options for building a railroad to the junior’s chromite deposits in the remote Ring of Fire area of northern Ontario.

KWG’s agent in China, Golden Share Mining Corp. (TSXV: GSH), facilitated the memorandum of understanding between the two companies, and will assist representatives from FSDI travel to Ontario in early March for initial consultations with First Nations groups and other stakeholders.

“This is in part driven by China’s desire to expand their rail construction industry globally,” says Moe Lavigne, KWG’s vice president exploration and development.

NEWS RELEASE: NAEDB recommendations signal a critical moment for infrastructure investment in Canada’s North

January 21, 2016

http://www.naedb-cndea.com/

Ottawa, ON – January 20, 2016 – The National Aboriginal Economic Development Board (NAEDB), has released their Recommendations on Northern Infrastructure to Support Economic Development. The recommendations address the significant infrastructure deficit in Canada’s North which acts as the predominant barrier to economic and business development in the region and the improvement of the quality of life in northern Indigenous communities.

“Not only is more infrastructure funding needed. The North should have its own specific strategy based on the recommendations we have developed for the Government of Canada,” said Hilda Broomfield Letemplier, of NAEDB’s Northern sub-committee.

The Board has found that because of the unique challenges faced in Northern regions, large, nation-building infrastructure is required alongside increased investment in community level infrastructure to support Northern communities.

Hobbs is right: build a new road – Editorial (Thunder Bay Chronicle – Journal – January 18, 2016)

January 18, 2016

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/

Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs’ call last week for the creation of another paved highway straight through Northwestern Ontario resulted in some tittering among some of his regional counterparts, but we think Hobbs is on to something.

As anyone who has missed a medical appointment, or a flight, due to a prolonged Trans-Canada road closure knows too well, our neck of the woods is hardly teeming with highways.

While the province scrambled last week to deal with the closure of the Nipigon River bridge (now open to one lane), it noted that the structure is the “link” between this country’s west and east. The only one, in fact, when travelling by paved road.

Northern Communities feel climate change impact – by Geoff Shields (Wawatay News – January 10, 2016)

January 14, 2016

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

On December 14, 2015, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change was held in the Le Bourget suburb of Paris. Representatives of the Canadian Government were present at the talks, however the fact that there were no representatives of the First Nations peoples was of great concern to Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day.

Day expressed his concern in a letter sent on November 23rd 2015 to the Prime Minister and Provincial Ministers prior to the meeting.

One of the rapidly accelerating effects of global warming which is impacting on the Northern Communities is that on the road system in his letter Day stated that “ Our Peoples in the North are all too aware that warmer winters have already negatively impacted their livelihoods, many communities depend on winter roads for food and materials.