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Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Sudbury is at the ‘epicentre’ of the electric vehicle boom, says economic development minister – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 7, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Vic Fedeli predicts exciting year ahead for Northern Ontario on the critical minerals development front

There’s a window of opportunity for Ontario to be part of the electrical vehicle revolution, said Vic Fedeli, the province’s economic development minister, and Ontario needs to move fast to secure its global position.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and Northern Ontario’s place in the global transition to clean energy technologies took up much of Fedeli’s speech before a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce crowd on Feb. 6.

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Canada needs to move quickly on production of critical minerals, IEA says – by Marieke Walsh and Emma Graney (Globe and Mail – February 2d, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada needs to quickly ramp up production of critical minerals and play a global leadership role to defend against energy security crises triggered by countries that use fossil fuels as a weapon, said the head of the International Energy Agency.

During a government-organized panel discussion in Ottawa Wednesday, Fatih Birol warned that the energy shortages currently gripping Europe could be repeated as the world transitions to cleaner fuels, if Western countries do not increase the availability of rare earth minerals and develop friendlier sources of them.

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First Nations forge alliance as Ontario’s rush for critical minerals sparks alarm – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – February 2, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Calling on Premier Doug Ford to end ‘free entry system’ for miners into their territories

Canada’s recent push to speed up mining permits and boost exploration for minerals such as lithium and nickel, needed to feed the growing demand for electric vehicles, have led to concerns among some First Nations that the Ontario government is providing miners with “easy access” to their homelands without proper consent.

Leaders of Ontario’s Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), Wapekeka, Neskantaga, and Asubpeeschoseewagong Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows) First Nations whose combined homelands cover about 60,000 square kilometres — about 100 times bigger than Toronto — formed an alliance this week to confront what they call an “attack” by Ontario on their communities.

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Ontario First Nation hires outside firm to investigate 28-year boil water advisory – by Olivia Stefanovich (CBC News Politics – February 3, 2023)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/

Neskantaga has lived under a boil water advisory longer than any other First Nation

A northern Ontario First Nation that has lived under a boil-water advisory for nearly three decades has hired an outside consultant to find out once and for all what ails the community’s water system.

Neskantaga First Nation, roughly 450 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., is marking a grim milestone this month — 28 years under a boil water advisory, longer than any other First Nation.

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Government regulatory duplication slowing progress in the Ring of Fire – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 27, 2023)

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.

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Location of ferrochrome smelter still up in the air, says Ring of Fire Metals CEO (CBC Sudbury – January 27, 2023)

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.

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Ring of Fire development begins with a road, Sudbury audience is told – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – January 26, 2023)

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.

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Doug Ford pledges to turn Ontario into ‘auto manufacturing powerhouse’ driven by minerals from Ring of Fire – by Kris Ketonen (CBC News Thunder Bay – January 23, 2023)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Premier discusses Ontario’s critical mineral strategy, plans for EV production during ROMA speech

Companies that want to extract Ontario’s critical minerals to make EV batteries will also need to open factories in the province, Premier Doug Ford said Monday.

Speaking at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association’s (ROMA) annual general meeting, Ford said northern Ontario boasts deposits of 34 of the “most critical minerals the whole world wants.” “Everyone’s here wanting to get the minerals,” Ford said. “I have one condition.

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(Part 1 of 2) Accent: Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire can save province’s auto sector – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – December 17, 2022)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

However, unjustified opposition from environmentalists, complicated First Nations politics and incompetent provincial bureaucrats stand in the way

The isolated, nickel-rich Ring of Fire, located 550 km northeast of Thunder Bay, is the centerpiece of Ontario’s Critical Mineral Strategy. Discovered in 2007, this developing mining camp is going to save southern Ontario’s auto sector.

Automobiles and associated parts are Ontario’s largest exports and second largest nationally, after the oil sector. Over the past century, hundreds of thousands of middle-class jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in manufacturing activity have established the province as Canada’s economic powerhouse.

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(Part 2 of 2) Accent: Ontario has moral obligation to develop Ring of Fire – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – December 19, 2022)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

We must provide the West with sustainably sourced critical minerals to stop global warming

In 2014, after spending about $550 million to buy, further explore and develop their Ring of Fire properties, Cliffs Natural Resources left the province in disgust due to the inability of both levels of government to build a road into the camp.

They sold their project at a steep discount to Noront Exploration (now Ring of Fire Metals) for around $27 million. Have the federal and provincial ministries of environment not learned a painful lesson from that ordeal? We got a second chance when Wyloo Metals – which has enormous financial clout — bought Noront and yet I fear we are blowing it again.

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Wyloo – Ring of Fire Metals Looks to decarbonize planet with Ring of Fire critical Minerals (Mining Life – December 15, 2022)

https://mininglifeonline.net/

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.

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PCs must find way to bring other First Nations on board, or Ring of Fire will stall: Chief – by Alan S. Hale (Politics Today – December 15, 2022)

https://www.politicstoday.news/

Despite the PC government trumpeting the fact it has two nearby First Nations — Marten Falls and Webequie — on board with its plans for the Ring of Fire, the former’s Chief warns the project will continue to struggle to come to fruition if the province can’t draw more FN support.

Many of the other seven Matawa First Nations — which were recently recognized by the Chiefs of Ontario as having the final say over the project — are either skeptical or actively oppose Ring of Fire mining development, their stance casting a dark cloud over its future.

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KWG still pursuing the Ring of Fire Holy Grail, hoping a railway is the solution (Mining Life – December 15, 2022)

https://mininglifeonline.net/

“It was nice to emerge from the fog we’d been in due to COVID in in the last two and a half years”, stated Moe Lavigne, Vice President of Exploration and Development for KWG Resources while opening his presentation during the CEN CAN Expo in Thunder Bay in September 2022. Moe was invited to bring the audience up to speed on where KWG is and where they are going in the Ring of Fire mining region.

KWG Resources primary chromite holdings are located on several parcels of land in the Koper-McFaulds Lake area, one of the most dynamic parcels located in the Ring of Fire. Its most hopeful property is the Black Horse Project. This past October, KWG bought the property they had under option which contains its largest chromite resource, the Black Horse property.

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Ontario Mines Minister George Pirie Continues Building Bridges in Ring of Fire Territory (Mining Life – December 14, 2022)

https://mininglifeonline.net/

There’s a sense of progress on all sides that the resource-rich Ring of Fire region of Northern Ontario is on the brink of a breakthrough. Ontario’s new Mines Minister George Pirie has been tasked by Premier Doug Ford with getting the Ring of Fire across the finish line.

Minister Pirie was the keynote speaker at the Central Canada Mining Expo held recently in Thunder Bay. Pirie brings more than three decades of mining experience to the portfolio but his core strength in his new role, is a deep and personal commitment to ensuring that First Nations communities share in the Ring of Fire’s extraordinary economic benefits.

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NEWS RELEASE: MATAWA CHIEFS’ COUNCIL CALL ON THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA TO STOP THE COLONIAL BACKROOM DEALS AND ESTABLISH A DEDICATED FEDERAL CROWN TABLE TO PREPARE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RING OF FIRE REGION AND CRITICAL MINERALS (December 15, 2022)

http://www.matawa.on.ca/

THUNDER BAY, ON: At their meeting today, the Matawa Chiefs Council issue the following statement related to the activities of the Governments of Canada, Ontario, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) who are compromising the positions of Indigenous rights holders:

“We have watched and waited patiently for the governments and First Nation political organizations to step up and support the sovereignty of the Matawa Chiefs Council and our communities with the impending development of the Ring of Fire Region and other critical minerals in the remote and rural north of Ontario, land subject to the James Bay Treaty No. 9 (1905-06 and 1929-30).

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