I am no expert on the mining act or railroads.
However I believe that in order to get approval to build a rail line, the province and perhaps the feds, would have to approve the land use.
In this case Cliffs is working with Ontario Northland who in turn negotiates with the government regarding the land use and permits...correct me if I am wrong.
If the route has been approved, then I agree with CMP that it would be very smart to stake claims along the route, if permitted, because the excavation work may uncover mineralization at surface.
In fact the Sudbury mineral resources were discovered in the late 1800's when they were building the railroad.
There has been a sugestion that Cliffs would own the railroad if they put up the money.
I doubt if that is the way it would work in Ontario. Cliffs may indeed start the negotiations with Ont. Northland and the gov't and play a key role in getting it started but I do not believe they would not be allowed to own the railroad. I suspect the federal govt is involved as well.
If Cliffs puts up some money, they may be paid back through reduced rates for shipping.
I believe the gov't will run the railroad through one of it's subsidiaries and charge the mines for the service.
In Sudbury I believe Vale Inco pays to have it's ore shipped from Levack to Sudbury even though they have their own local rail lines and rolling stock. They may even use their own rail cars on the CP lines.
There are private rail companies operating in Ontario. For example Huron Central runs a line from Sudbury to Sault Ste Marie to service mainly Essar Steel in the Sault and Domtar in Espanola. However I believe this was subcontracted to Huron Central by Via Rail.
Just as an asside Huron Central has allowed the track to get into such disrepair that there has been thought of shutting it down. It is so bad that the speed limits have been drastically reduced to avoid accidents.
Again I am no expert on railroads so much of this is my opinion or second hand information. Please correct anything that is out of line.
SN
