With one mining company getting out another is all in when it comes to the Ring of Fire.
Noront Resources updated the public Wednesday evening on where it's at with a $700 million project that it hopes will break ground by winter of 2015. With a draft environmental assessment ready by the end of the year, the company said its positioned to go ahead in the area whether other companies are ready or not. CEO Alan Coutts said maybe that's what the area, which has seen delays from other companies and now an outright suspension by Cliffs Natural Resources, needs.
" This might just be the first mines of many but it would be a start," he said after the company made a presentation at the Victoria Inn.
Originally preferring an East West road into the area, Coutts said they would also support a North South corridor if that's the decision made by a recently announced development corporation. Coutts said because of the high concentration and value of the nickel, copper and platinum-group elements in its Eagle's Nest deposit, the company can afford the East West route if it has to.
"We would essentially have a mine that's permanent and ready to go with no access," he said. "We can afford to truck our product a little further."
But they'd rather see a plan that benefits government, industry and communities involved.
"I don't think this is about picking one solution. I think this is about designing infrastructure for the next 50 years and how we're going to do that."
Chief operating officer Paul Semple said that includes seeing that infrastructure benefit First Nations communities.
"They need to be serviced as well as just the mines," he said.
The company is also hoping to mitigate environmental concerns before the EA is even submitted. It's proposing an underground near-vertical mine that wouldn't need tailing ponds on the surface. Coutts said the Noront design would take the tailings, mix them with water and use it as a paste to fill in spots that have already been mined. There's also a chance to use some of it to be recycled through the mine's mill.
"We think that's an important thing to manage the water in this area," he said.
Editor's note: Interviews with Noront officials were conducted before Cliffs Natural Resources announced its decision to suspend operations in the RIng of Fire.
