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Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Commodities boom lifts Aboriginal incomes – by Jeremy Torobin (Globe and Mail Blog – June 17, 2011)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous impact and influence on Canada’s political and business elite as well as the rest of the country’s print, radio and television media.

Click here for: TD report on Aboriginal incomes

Anyone who reads the business pages knows that lofty commodity prices have mostly been bonus for the Canadian economy and average household wealth, even if the strong currency that comes with them is a headache for manufacturers.

But here’s a good-news aspect of Canada’s emergence as a globally renowned hotbed for coveted resources that doesn’t get the attention it deserves: Aboriginals are sharing in the bounty, finding jobs more easily and seeing their personal and community incomes grow. Since 2001, thanks to a steady stream of jobs in the oil-and-gas and mining sectors, as well as in construction, total personal income for Aboriginals has grown by an average 7.5 per cent each year, according to a new study from TD Economics.

In fact, TD economists Sonya Gulati and Derek Burleton estimate in their report that the combined income of Aboriginal households, businesses and governments could top $32-billion within five years. That’s more than the combined level of nominal gross domestic product of Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, making Aboriginals a fast-growing consumer market that all Canadian businesses would do well to factor into their marketing plans, the authors suggest.

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NEWS RELEASE: Rencore Resources Announces the Signing of an Exploration Agreement with Webequie First Nation

Toronto, Ontario (June 17, 2011) – Rencore Resources Ltd. (CNSX: RNC) (“Rencore” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has signed an exploration agreement with the Webequie First Nation (“WFN”). This agreement is a sign of the cooperative relationship and mutual respect between Rencore and the people of the Webequie FirstNation.

“Webequie First Nation is pleased that more progressive exploration companies like Rencore Resources have made the effort for meaningful engagement and we look forward to a deeper participation and partnership as the exploration program evolves” said Chief Cornelius Wabasse.

Rencore President and CEO, Richard E. Nemis states, “We are very pleased to have reached his agreement and we look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with the Webequie First Nation”.

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NEWS RELEASE: Cliffs Workers Walk off Job Site in Ring of Fire

Poor working conditions not tolerated by First Nations and Non-Native Workers

Sunday June 19, 2011 – Ring of Fire, Northern Ontario: – Over two dozen First Nation and non-native workers employed by Cliffs Natural Resources have walked off their job-site in the Ring of Fire Mining Camp this weekend. 

Protesting poor wages, deteriorating working conditions and inadequate health & safety infrastructure, workers at the camp are taking an indefinite stand against the Cleveland-based mining giant, Cliffs Natural Resources. 

Workers describe an average week‘s work in the Cliffs Mining Camp as moving out bulk samples of Chromite, weighing up to 200 tons or 400,000 pounds.   This labour intensive work is carried out by hand and manpower exclusively and involves manually loading rocks into 15 gallon pails and onto airplanes.  

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Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated History (1846 – 2004) – by International Directory of Company Histories

For a large selection of corporate histories click: International Directory of Company Histories

Company History:

With six iron ore mines in Michigan, Minnesota, and Eastern Canada, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is North America’s leading producer of iron ore pellets, which are used in the steelmaking process. The company’s capacity stands at 36.9 million tons of ore, which represents nearly 28 percent of the continent’s annual pellet capacity. Throughout its history, Cleveland-Cliffs has faced competition from imports, takeover attempts, shareholder revolts, ill-advised diversification efforts, and the vagaries of the cyclical steel sector. In the early years of the new century, the company focused on bolstering its assets while the industry restructured and consolidated.

Early History in the 1800s

Cleveland-Cliffs’ predecessor, the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, was established in 1846 by a group of investors led by Samuel L. Mather. Mather, an attorney, had moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1843, just two years after iron ore was discovered in the Marquette Range of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Although Mather was confident that, given time, the venture would prove profitable, it was for many years a losing proposition.

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Chance to make decisions [Ontario Think North event] – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – June 17, 2011)

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. hcarmichael@thesudburystar.com

The Ontario Government is pushing ahead with one of the key planks in the Northern Ontario Growth Plan, says the minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.

“Northerners have said that when decisions are being made, they want it to be an independent not-for-profit policy institute,” Michael Gravelle told reporters Thursday, during a visit to Greater Sudbury to give a speech at the Think North 2 Summit.

“It’s a good chance by northerners to make some decisions on what works. The institute will be able to look for evidence- based advice on what can work the best in Northern Ontario.”

Gravelle said the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation will provide $5 million to get the new policy institute running. One of the first steps in the process, he said, will be to get a board of governors and a board of directors in place.

The minister also said he has met with Laurentian University president Dominic Giroux and Lakehead president Brian Stevenson and asked for their advice on the policy institute since both have a strong background and experience in preparing policy.

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Ontario’s Ring of Fire: An Issue of Sustainability – by Patrick Whiteway (Canadian Mining Review Blog – May 29, 2011)

Canadian Mining Review: Discussing ideas and issues related to mining in Canada 

Our national mineral development strategy should include a requirement
to use mineral resources to our advantage by processing them prior to export.
(Patrick Whiteway)

The close proximity of Ontario’s Ring of Fire, Manitoba’s Thompson Nickel Belt and low carbon-emitting hydro power, give Canada an unparalleled opportunity to become a long-term, sustainable producer of stainless steel, the enviro-metal. If only the sustainability of the northern boreal forest could be assured as well.

Massive deposits of chromite and nickel have been discovered in the ‘Ring of Fire’ under the boreal forest of northwestern Ontario and plans by Cliffs Natural Resources and Noront Resources respectively to develop them are well underway. How this development is managed by the federal and provincial governments could be historically significant for resource development in Canada.

The scale of the undertaking is huge. It could, in the next 10 years, create Canada’s first chromite mine and with an appropriate level of visionary leadership, could also transform Canada into the lowest-carbon-emitting source of stainless steel on the planet.

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Rafting down the Albany River to the Ring of Fire – by Tanya Talaga (Toronto Star – June 12, 2011)

Tanya Talaga is the Queen’s Park reporter with the Toronto Star, which has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on Canada’s federal and provincial politics as well as shaping public opinion.

For an extensive list of articles on this mineral discovery, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

ALBANY RIVER, ONT.

There is a Cree legend about the insatiable appetite of big brother. Always famished, big brother demands his little brother work harder to bring him more timber, gold and fuel so he can feed his hungry belly.

Ed Metatawabin tells this story from a wooden raft as it slowly makes its way through the pummeling rain down the 1,000-kilometre-long Albany River in Ontario’s Far North.

Directly above the Albany lies the Ring of Fire — more than 5,000 square kilometres of pristine wilderness that is believed to contain a $30 billion deposit of chromite, the ore used to make stainless steel. Prospectors also say a treasure trove of platinum and diamonds lies underneath.

But the pursuit of these riches means little brother must blast, bulldoze and bigfoot through the Albany watershed, the surrounding boreal forest and the swampy peatland of the Hudson Bay lowlands.

The race to develop the ring is already furiously underway. International mining companies have staked more than 9,000 claims covering 480,000 hectares. All-weather roads, bridges and a railway line are being planned to transport the precious ore south.

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Town hires ex-minister to lure [Ring of Fire] smelter northwest – by Mike Whitehouse (Sudbury Star – June 4, 2011)

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. This article was published on June 4, 2011. mwhitehouse@thesudburystar.com

Mining analyst Stan Sudol argues government should pick up the estimated $2-billion
cost of building a rail line to move ore from the yet-to-be-developed Ring of Fire deposits
to potential processing sites. … That investment, he said, would be easily made back
through the resulting economic development and taxes created by the Ring of Fire
deposits, which include nickel, copper, zinc, palladium, platinum and chromite …

A provincial and federal commitment to build a 350- kilometre railway could be key to keeping ore from the largest mining find in a generation in Northern Ontario, an analyst says.

But what community that railway leads to is one of the most hotly contested questions in the north this summer. The prize — a billion-dollar ferrochrome smelter and hundreds of high-paying jobs — has communities across the north queuing to position themselves on the other end of the proposed railway.

Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources will announce a site as early as September. Cliffs estimates 500 people will work on the smelter during construction and up to 500 when it’s operating.

Cliffs’ preferred location is a site just north of Capreol. But the company also said it would consider other locations in the north, including Timmins, Thunder Bay and Greenstone, the community closest to the mine site in the James Bay lowlands.

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KWG Resources proposes going off the grid in Ring of Fire – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June, 2011)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business  provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca and this article is from the June, 2011 issue.

Junior miner proposes a separate James Bay lowlands power grid

If the Ontario government can’t supply competitively-priced industrial power, one Ring of Fire mining executive proposes going off the grid.

Moe Lavigne, vice-president of exploration and development for KWG Resources, said the price of public power is the determining factor on where the ferrochrome mineral processing will be located.

“We’re not a big player,” said Lavigne, “but we’re the only player in the Ring of Fire that understands the chromite industry, and we’re going to present our view of how we think it would be done in a perfect world.”

KWG Resources has a 28 per cent stake in the high grade Big Daddy chromite deposit in the James Bay lowlands. In April, the company released a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) that recommends moving its remote deposit closer down the path toward production and into the feasibility study phase.

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Rails to the Ring of Fire – Stan Sudol (Toronto Star – May 30, 2011)

The Toronto Star, which has the largest circulation in Canada, has an enormous impact on Canada’s federal and provincial politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant, mining columnist and blogger: stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

Notwithstanding the recent correction in commodity prices, near-record highs for gold, silver and a host of base metals essential for industry confirm that the commodity “supercycle” is back and with a vengeance.

China, India, Brazil and many other developing economies are continuing their rapid pace of growth. In 2010, China overtook Japan to become the world’s second largest economy and surpassed the United States to become the biggest producer of cars.

In March, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney remarked: “Commodity markets are in the midst of a supercycle. . . . Rapid urbanization underpins this growth. . . . Even though history teaches that all booms are finite, this one could go on for some time.”

Quebec’s visionary 25-year “Plan Nord” will see billions invested in northern resource development and infrastructure to take advantage of the tsunami in global metal demand and generate much needed revenue for government programs.

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Can the Sault plug into Ring of Fire potential? – by Dan Bellerose (The Sault Star – May 24, 2011)

The Sault Star is the daily newspaper in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and is owned and operated by Osprey Media.

It has the potential to be one of the most significant mineral developments in Ontario in over a century.

Think of what the discovery of nickel meant to Sudbury, and gold to Red Lake and Timmins, that is the potential of the remote mineral-rich Ring of Fire in the James Bay Lowlands, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

It’s a vast deposit of more than 5,100 square kilometres of chromite, copper, zinc, gold and kimberlite and communities throughout Northern Ontario are scrambling to make themselves known to the development’s major players.

Cliffs Natural Resources, known in these parts as the primary iron-ore supplier of Essar Steel Algoma, wants to begin mining and processing a world-class chromite deposit within The Ring within five years, by 2015.

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Push area’s [Sudbury’s] expertise, official suggests [for Ring of Fire business] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – May 18, 2011)

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. This article was published on May 18, 2011. cmulligan@thesudburystar.com

Cities like Greater Sudbury looking to benefit from the Ring of Fire should market their soft skills such as their knowledge base and skilled workforce, and not just “hard infrastructure” to companies developing the massive deposit.

Communities throughout Northern Ontario are looking to capitalize on development of the 5,120-square-kilometre deposit of chromite, nickel, copper, zinc, gold and kimberlite located about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

The co-ordinator of the Ring of Fire Secretariat, Christine Kaszycki, spoke to members of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday about progress in developing the resource and how businesses might get involved.

Kaszycki, who heads the secretariat established by the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry last year, presented a high-level overview of the status of the Ring of Fire development.

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Law society paves way for Ontario’s first new law school in 43 years [in Thunder Bay] – Tracey Tyler (Toronto Star – May 11, 2011)

Tracey Tyler is the legal affairs reporter for the Toronto Star, which has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on Canada’s federal and provincial politics as well as shaping public opinion. This article was originally published May 11, 2011.

In many ways, the future of the legal profession isn’t on Bay St., he [Beardy] contends, but closer to major mining exploration projects in the James Bay lowlands known as the “ring of fire.” Northern Ontario is rich in diamonds, gold, platinum and a recently discovered deposit of chromite, a mineral used in stainless steel production and expected to be in high demand in countries with rapidly developing economies, including China and India, Beardy said.

Grand Chief Stan Beardy of Nishnawbe Aski Nation likes to joke about seeing a sasquatch in the forest behind his home in Muskrat Dam in Northern Ontario.

But when he looks some 600 kilometres south and into the future, Beardy sees a law school, one that will boost the ranks of First Nations lawyers and support economic development in the north.

That vision is inching closer to reality now that the Law Society of Upper Canada has approved a proposal from Lakehead University to open a law school in Thunder Bay. The university says the school would give preference to northerners and First Nations applicants.

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Resource Rents, the Ring of Fire and the Future – by Livio Di Matteo

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Visit his new Economics Blog “Northern Economist” at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/

May 9, 2011

American historian David Potter’s book People of Plenty argued that resource abundance shaped the American attitude towards possibility and opportunity.  Abundant resources set the stage for wealth accumulation and created a society that believes that everyone can become rich through their own work and effort and that initiative and opportunity are the key to social mobility and success. 

In Canada, we also have a tradition of resource abundance but it has generated not so much an ethos of aggressive individualism but one of more government involvement in the economy.  Indeed, the resource rents from natural resources have played a role in government finance whether it was late nineteenth century Ontario’s forest sector (which generated at its peak 20-25 percent of provincial government revenues) or energy in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador today.

As Herb Emery and Ron Kneebone have recently written in Alberta’s Problems of Plenty (May 2011, Policy Options), in the Alberta context the main role of resource abundance and resource rents has been to augment both private and public consumption. 

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