Good Morning All,
I have been away in remote areas (intermittent internet and telecommunications) for nearly two weeks, and just got in and took a quick review of the message board this morning.
Yes indeed, the road situation is developing in a very favourable manner as was predicted even a year ago on this board. At that time, there was a lot of "stock basher" discussion about roads being a constraint to development in the area. A number of us with some northern road construction experience countered with posts to the contrary that suggested the roads were not that much of a problem in the overall scheme of things. Our analysis of the situation at that time still stands per this excerpt from one of my posts on 30 July 08:
"Just to add to the above, it is important to note where the Noront claims actually are in the landscape up there. Although they are technically in the James Bay Lowlands, this is a bit misleading. They are actually right on the border of the lowlands and this is important when discussing access. If you look at a map of locations of First Nation communities in Northern Ontario, you will note that there are none in the middle of the James Bay Lowlands. They are either on the border of the lowlands, or right on the coast of the James and Hudson Bays. There is a reason for this. The lowlands are relatively inhospitable and difficult to move through. The heavily forested boreal forest area has far more diversity in landscape, wildlife, plantlife, etc... The First Nations, because they are intelligent and have thrived for thousands of years in northern Ontario, live in the areas that are more suited to human habitation and movement. Webequie, which is actually over 50 kilometres north of the claims, is situated on a beautiful (high and dry) peninsula that juts out into an equally beautiful, deep freshwater lake. I mention this because I wouldn't want anyone to have a mental picture that the area is nothing but a featureless, watery wasteland. It is not. Any road that is built to access Noront's claim does not have to travel a significant distance through the James Bay Lowlands. The bulk of it will travel through boreal forest interspersed with "muskeg". Much of this ground is high and dry and eminently suited for road construction. The "muskeg" portions are what they are and they will be managed accordingly and yes, there are quite a significant number of good gravel bearing eskers in the area that will help matters."
And this excerpt from the same post:
(for the uninitiated) " it would be hard to imagine just how good our people are at this. Try to picture over a hundred kilometres of winter grade road (this is distinct from pure "ice roads", which are a different animal) that is constructed from completely undeveloped forest and "muskeg" in only a matter of weeks. This is followed by 150 loads per day (24/7 for close to 5 months) of hauling by very heavy 6 and 7 axle trucks. This is a typical scenario played out all over Canada's north every year. I have taken the uninitiated on these roads when they wanted to see what "we we were doing up there". It is a frightening experience for them on these tightly radio controlled roads (single lane with turnouts) when fully loaded off-highway trucks are bearing down upon you in an endless procession. Such exposure gives these people a real appreciation for just how efficiently Canada's natural resources are delivered every year. Do not doubt that Noront's resources will be delivered just as diligently and efficiently when the time comes."
The point of the above rambling is just that you need not worry about the physical challenges of building a road to this area in Canada's north. These challenges have been successfully met literally thousands of times in the past for all resource extraction industries (i.e. mining, forestry, oil and gas).
Further to the above operational matters, we now have indications that the politics and negotiation that always surround such developments have advanced considerably. My current work in the general area (not far from the Ring of Fire) occassionaly provides me some insight into this because I frequently discuss roads in Northern Ontario in an associated context. In other words, I have good sources who are directly involved with the process and have indicated to me in this last trip that all is moving in the right direction. Their statements have corroborated with others that we have seen posted on the board here in recent days. It is all good!
Take care,
RHammer
