Investors in KWG Resources should not fear but rather, embrace environmentalists, who should be invited to and be participants at the Ring of Fire development table.
Ecojustice and WCS have a role to play and working together, can help Ontario and the Federal governments, First Nations and miners develop policy which protects our beautiful boreal forests while harvesting it's natural resources!
Again, fast tracked, sustainable, economic mining can co-exist with environmental conservation!
There is no need to slow the Ring of Fire's development if Ontario adopts policy based upon their own studies;
Environmental sustainable resource mining should endeavor to follow the Regional Strategic Environmental Assessment model, R-SEA , (not sanctioned in EA legislation nor regulations in Canada) with the integration of SEA-CEA into CEAA 2012, as outlined in "Conceptual and methodological challenges to integrating SEA and cumulative effects assessment" by Dr. Jill Gunn, Ph.D., M.C.I.P. (I have personally corresponded with her on this issue and Canada does not even come close to following R-SEA.)
True R-SEA, coupled with the Ontario Far North Science Advisory Panel's advise of adopting a "Conservation-Matrix Model" (outlined in chapter 4), can eliminate the adverse effects of mining and other development projects on our environment. Piecemeal planning and decision-making should be avoided. A comprehensive access plan into the northern boreal area at a regional scale should establish limits on road densities, and on water access and wetland incursion in advance of development, rather than relying on after-the-fact mitigation and decommissioning.
KWG is working with Glencore affiliate XPS Consulting & Testwork Services and has filed a patent application, to commercialize a new method of refining into ferro chrome the chromite ore of its Black Horse deposit by means of natural gas. Their study suggested that overall direct energy costs to process one tonne of concentrate into metallised ferrochrome alloy were "less than half" that required for conventional technology. KWG said this process has a “considerably lower greenhouse gas emission footprint and greatly reduced impact on the environment.”
Advances in long-distance slurry pipeline liquid lining technology allow for very small chromite particle transport. A chromite carrying pipeline is feasible should the First Nation require it over rail. Chromite fines reaching Nakina by pipeline would not impede KWG's ability to reduce the chromite. The de-watered chromite fines can be fed directly into the gas-fired pre-reduction process for ferroalloy production with conventional pelletising offering significantly reduced CO2 emission. Rail south of Nakina would still be required to supply Ontario's revitalized stainless steel industry.
