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He still dosen't mention KWG when speaking about the ROF... what gives.. It would be interesting to see that deloite report though... there must be something in it that the Liberals don't want the public to know or it would've been released already ... IMO it probably speaks in favour of a NS rail corridor
Grits want Ring developed too: minister
Tuesday, November 1, 2016 3:33:02 EDT PM
Michael Gravelle, minister of Northern Development and Mines, takes part in a press conference at the Mining Innovation Summit in Sudbury, Ont. on Tuesday November 1, 2016. John Lappa/Sudbury Star/Postmedia Network
The Wynne government is as keen to advance development of the Ring of Fire as any company or individual, says Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle.
The Ontario government is working with its partners, including Noront Resources Inc. and neighbouring First Nations, to "bring the Ring of Fire project forward," Gravelle told reporters Tuesday at a conference in Sudbury.
Gravelle attended the Mining Innovation Summit 2016 at which he announced $2.5 million in new funding for the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation in Sudbury.
Part of that money will go toward the Ultra Deep Mining Network, a five-year, $46-million initiative to help companies with deep mines operate safely and efficiently.
The rest of the $2.5 million will go to small- and medium-sized enterprises whose owners have innovative ideas they wish to develop.
Gravelle told reporters his government wants to move the Ring of Fire forward and is determined to "elevate conversations" with first nations "so we can have some decisions moving forward."
The province continues to work with four first nations near the Ring on a community corridor study to see if it can get a decision on road recommendations, said Gravelle.
The minister said he keeps in close touch with Noront Resources president and chief executive officer Alan Coutts because "we appreciate this is a significant project."
Noront has the largest number of claims in the Ring of Fire by far.
Coutts has said his company must get a commitment by the end of this year to build a shared use access road so it can begin construction in 2018 of its Eagle's Nest mine, a high-grade nickel, copper and platinum group element deposit. After that, Noront will develop its Blackbird chromite mine.
Gravelle said "very significant discussions" have been held among partners since a framework agreement was reached between the Government of Ontario and members of the Matawa Council, representing nine first nations near the Ring of Fire.
That agreement, which Gravelle has repeatedly called historic, was signed in April 2014.
"Indeed it is historic," said Gravelle, "and one I think we need to understand in order for the project ti move forward."
Gravelle has said Tuesday his government is committed to developing the riches of the Ring of Fire, estimated to be worth as kuch as $60 billion, but it wants to do it right.
"It's no different than it was a year ago, two years ago, and we are determined to see that project move forward and we are going to continue to do the diligent hard work we are to see that happen.'
Douglas Morrison, chief executive officer of CEMI, was pleased with the new funding for his organization. The Ultra Deep Mining Network has been funded by the federal government and industry. The latter has not be able to fulfil all its commitments to the project because of the slump the mining industry is in.
"We managed to persuade the province to step in and help" with funding, Morrison told reporter, "so all of the work we wanted to get completed would be completed before the end of the five-year program."
CMulligan@Postmedia.com
http://www.thesudburystar.com/2016/11/01/grits-want-ring-developed-too-minister
Locked and loaded: Chamber lobbies for Ring of Fire
Camp Esker, in the Ring of Fire, is pictured in this file photo.
Lobbyists for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce have a powerful new tool to use to persuade the Government of Canada that developing the Ring of Fire should be high on the national agenda.
A resolution regarding the vast chromite deposits, submitted by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, received 94.9 per cent support from more than 400 delegates at the Canadian chamber's annual general meeting this month.
The resolution calls on the federal government to treat the Ring of Fire as a national priority, to work with governments, industry and community partners to forge agreements and build capacity with indigenous peoples, and to actively promote the Ring globally as a trade and investment opportunity.
Tracy Nutt, chair of the board of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, attended the Canadian meeting along with Sudbury chamber president and chief executive officer Debbi Nicholson, chamber policy and public relations manager Joyce Mankarios and chamber vice-chair Michael MacNamara.
"We had a bit of work to do to get there," said Nutt of her team's efforts to convince about 150 Alberta business people the Ring of Fire is more than a local project.
"Alberta was very clear, right from the get-go, they found it far too regional and that it only was going to benefit Northern Ontario and they would not be supporting it," said Nutt this week.
Her group had a few minutes to make its case to the Alberta caucus that the Ring of Fire is "not unlike the oil sands or the forestry industry in B.C.," said Nutt. While the minerals are in the ground in Northern Ontario, "we feel it has the potential to have a vast national impact."
With a little tweaking of the language of the resolution, Albertans were ready to endorse it.
"Without their vote, this would not have passed," said Nutt.
That resolution is now part of the Canadian chamber's official lobbying policy, and will be presented to cabinet ministers in federal departments such as Innovation, Natural Resources, Finance, Transportation, Indigenous Affairs "or all the above," said Nutt.
Nutt hopes it will go "underneath the noses of all of those ministers because there's so many ... players in this game, potentially."
The resolution is in line with the federal Liberals' mandate to "push forward with research and development," to support innovation and to "go forward" in healing rifts between the government and first nations and among first nations themselves.
"It's endless, it's endless who would benefit from this project going forth," said Nutt.
The Government of Ontario is "keen" on the Ring of Fire, but the federal government needs to show interest before anything will happen, said Nutt.
Canadian chamber lobbyists, who are generally well received on Parliament Hill, will talk up the Ring of Fire in cafeterias, board rooms and elsewhere in the nation's capital.
The first thing the federal government should do is acknowledge there's value in getting the Ring of Fire off the ground, said Nutt. "The juice has to be worth the squeeze. We all realize that, and I think there's enough juice with this. I really do, we all do."
Cabinet ministers also realize the Canadian chamber is the voice of business in Canada, she said.
The resolution builds on the work that has been done for two years by the Sudbury chamber task force on the Ring of Fire. While there hasn't been a great deal of measurable progress to develop the Ring, "nobody seems to have lost their taste for it "¦
"Everybody is eager to keep pushing and keep sticking this information and these papers and these resolutions under the appropriate noses at the federal level," said Nutt, who owns ServiceMaster of Sudbury and Build North Construction.
The chamber has agreed to extend the task force for a third year and most members have agreed to stay on it. The Canadian chamber approval of the Sudbury resolution will bolster the spirits of task force members who have been meeting monthly.
Nutt said her personal belief, which doesn't necessarily represent the Sudbury chamber's, is that work on infrastructure, training and capacity building should be done during the current slump in commodity prices. When those prices eventually rise, "everybody will have what they need to start to pull these minerals out of the ground."
Her attitude is, why wait? "Why wait to connect the native communities together? Why wait to educate them? Why wait to get them ready to roll?"
To read the resolution in its entirety, go to http://sudburychamber.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/CCC-Policy-Resolution-2016_Ring-of-Fire_PASSED.pdf
CMulligan@postmedia.com
Sudbury Star 2016 ©
RING OF FIRE TAKING NEXT STEP
The recommendations from a study on the corridor link to the Ring of Fire are expected very soon. The federal and provincial governments have been studying what route to pursue along with four First Nations near the chromite site. The study is looking at the cost to build a road or rail to move the ore out of the Ring of Fire. The biggest player at the Ring of Fire, Noront Resources, prefers a road, while another major miner, KWG like the rail option.
Minister urges Ring of Fire patience in Sudbury trip
Camp Esker, in the Ring of Fire, is pictured in this file photo.
Recommendations due any day from four first nations involved in the community corridor study will "inform" decisions the province will make about a transportation route to the Ring of Fire.
The $785,000 study is being led by Webequie First Nation, in partnership with Eabametoong, Neskantaga and Nibinamik First Nations. It is being funded by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines and Natural Resources Canada.
Among other issues, the study was to look at the cost and viability of moving ore and people by both freight and road in the chromite-rich area about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.
Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said Wednesday the study will look at the best way to access ore deposits.
The study, which was announced in February 2015, was to be completed in March of this year, but the group conducting it was given a three-month extension.
It was expected to be wrapped up by the end of June, Gravelle said Wednesday after a funding announcement about another issue at Laurentian University.
"I recognize people tend to be impatient about the project moving forward," said Gravelle of the Ring of Fire. "The fact is, ultimately it will be the markets that will decide" when that happens.
Still, his government recognizes that building infrastructure is crucial to gaining access to the chromite and other mineral deposits. Gravelle said the study recommendations will have an impact on "east-west routing," something that should have a positive impact on Noront Resources' Eagle Nest project.
Noront officials have said they favour an east-west road, essentially an expansion of a winter road that now exists in the area.
Discussions continue about a north-south road, said Gravelle, and the province is committed to building a road into Marten Falls from the Ring area.
Gravelle has said it before, and people have pointed it out to him, he said, that the province "needs to get it right" when planning infrastructure in the Ring. If done correctly, it will allow access to deposits and improve services to communities in an area that has never been developed.
"Getting it right means showing proper respect and a sense of partnership with First Nations and Metis," said Gravelle.
He referred to the "historic regional framework agreement" reached two years ago by Bob Rae, working on behalf of nine Matawa chiefs whose first nations are near the Ring of Fire, and former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci for the province.
Rae and Iacobucci continue to work together. "It doesn't result in a press release every day," the minister said of their work, "nor should it. But this is important work in terms of building up the respect with the first nations. We need to continue this work."
The ministry also established a development corporation more than two years ago to plan the infrastructure needed to develop the Ring. The government has been criticized for not bringing industry, government and first nations together in that corporation, which is now being run by a handful of senior government bureaucrats.
"The development corporation is certainly going to be more engaged as we get those recommendations from the community corridor study," said the minister.
Gravelle said he continues to be encouraged by the work being done to develop the Ring of Fire.
"We're recognizing there's a tendency for people to want to see things moving more quickly," he said. "If we don't get this right, there won't be a project in the Ring of Fire and we're determined to get it right."
CMulligan@postmedia.com
Twitter @CarolDMulligan
Gravelle implies good news for NOT
Minister urges Ring of Fire patience in Sudbury trip
Camp Esker, in the Ring of Fire, is pictured in this file photo.
Recommendations due any day from four first nations involved in the community corridor study will "inform" decisions the province will make about a transportation route to the Ring of Fire.
The $785,000 study is being led by Webequie First Nation, in partnership with Eabametoong, Neskantaga and Nibinamik First Nations. It is being funded by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines and Natural Resources Canada.
Among other issues, the study was to look at the cost and viability of moving ore and people by both freight and road in the chromite-rich area about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.
Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said Wednesday the study will look at the best way to access ore deposits.
The study, which was announced in February 2015, was to be completed in March of this year, but the group conducting it was given a three-month extension.
It was expected to be wrapped up by the end of June, Gravelle said Wednesday after a funding announcement about another issue at Laurentian University.
"I recognize people tend to be impatient about the project moving forward," said Gravelle of the Ring of Fire. "The fact is, ultimately it will be the markets that will decide" when that happens.
Still, his government recognizes that building infrastructure is crucial to gaining access to the chromite and other mineral deposits. Gravelle said the study recommendations will have an impact on "east-west routing," something that should have a positive impact on Noront Resources' Eagle Nest project.
Noront officials have said they favour an east-west road, essentially an expansion of a winter road that now exists in the area.
Discussions continue about a north-south road, said Gravelle, and the province is committed to building a road into Marten Falls from the Ring area.
Gravelle has said it before, and people have pointed it out to him, he said, that the province "needs to get it right" when planning infrastructure in the Ring. If done correctly, it will allow access to deposits and improve services to communities in an area that has never been developed.
"Getting it right means showing proper respect and a sense of partnership with First Nations and Metis," said Gravelle.
He referred to the "historic regional framework agreement" reached two years ago by Bob Rae, working on behalf of nine Matawa chiefs whose first nations are near the Ring of Fire, and former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci for the province.
Rae and Iacobucci continue to work together. "It doesn't result in a press release every day," the minister said of their work, "nor should it. But this is important work in terms of building up the respect with the first nations. We need to continue this work."
The ministry also established a development corporation more than two years ago to plan the infrastructure needed to develop the Ring. The government has been criticized for not bringing industry, government and first nations together in that corporation, which is now being run by a handful of senior government bureaucrats.
"The development corporation is certainly going to be more engaged as we get those recommendations from the community corridor study," said the minister.
Gravelle said he continues to be encouraged by the work being done to develop the Ring of Fire.
"We're recognizing there's a tendency for people to want to see things moving more quickly," he said. "If we don't get this right, there won't be a project in the Ring of Fire and we're determined to get it right."
CMulligan@postmedia.com
Twitter @CarolDMulligan