Ontario OKs Ring of Fire road review plan by First Nations

INFRASTRUCTURE | Environmental assessment proceeds on remote route

BY COLIN MCCLELLAND

Ontario has approved another small step on the long journey to build an all-season road to the Ring of Fire in the province’s far north.

The province granted the terms of reference for an environmental assessment of the Northern Link road, the last terms approved for the three connected roads planned for the area 540 km northeast of Thunder Bay. The plans were submitted by the Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations. The Northern Link is to connect the two communities and potential mining projects.

“I value our partnership with these strong leaders who are central to our government’s mandate to develop the Ring of Fire,” George Pirie, Minister of Mines, said at a news conference on Mar. 6 at the PDAC conference in Toronto. “The Ring of Fire has the critical minerals we need to build our manufacturing supply chain, including nickel for electric vehicles and chromite for clean steel.”

The cost of the roads isn’t clear although Victoria, B.C.-based The Narwhal, citing memos from the government of Premier Doug Ford, said it’s estimated at more than $2 billion.

Environmentalists and at least several Indigenous communities in the region, such as the Neskantaga First Nation and several James Bay communities including Attawapiskat, are opposed to mining and roads they say will desecrate the area. However, Mushkegowuk Council communities have proposed their own road to link some James Bay coastal communities to the provincial highway system.

Critics say the boggy peatlands and muskeg swamps are difficult to build through and hold millions of tonnes of carbon. Construction would cause its release, outweighing the benefits from mining metals for green energy, they say. Meeting mineral demand to fight climate change is one of the main planks wielded by project supporters.

“This project has the potential to finally bring economic reconciliation for remote First Nations in Ontario,” Chief Cornelius Wabasse of Webequie First Nation said at the news conference. “But these opportunities must also be balanced against the potential environmental and socio-cultural risks associated with building a road.”

Of the two other roads, which are already undergoing environmental assessments, one would link the Marten Falls community to the provincial highway network to the south. The other would run from the

Webequie First Nation to proposed mining developments. The Northern Link is to connect the two roads. Each requires its own environmental assessment on the provincial level, while federal review may only apply to the Marten Falls and Webequie community roads and not the Northern Link, at least initially. The area’s most advanced project is Ring of Fire Metals’ Eagle’s Nest.

A 2012 feasibility study estimated it would have an 11-year mine life and cost US$609 million to build. Proven and probable reserves are 11.1 million tonnes grading 1.68% nickel, 0.87% copper, 0.87 gram platinum per tonne, 3.09 grams palladium and 0.18 gram gold.

Ring of Fire’s parent company, Wyloo Metals, beat out giant BHP (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) for the asset after U.S.-based Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) pulled out of the area in 2013 even though it had already spent half a billion dollars to advance local chromite deposits. Also at PDAC, the province awarded $5 million in grants as part of the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund supporting Ontario-based companies developing new mining technologies.

Grants of $500,000 each went to: Frontier Lithium (TSXV: FL; US-OTC: LITOF) to develop innovative lithium processing tech- niques; Vale Canada (NYSE: VALE) to develop bioleaching techniques to extract nickel and cobalt from tailings; and Ring of Fire Metals to test storing tailings as underground backfill in mine workings. Indigenous-owned Carbonix received $475,000 to convert mining waste, petroleum coke and other by-products into graphite for batteries. The recipients of the remaining circa $3 million weren’t mentioned.

“We’re connecting the critical minerals of the north with the manufacturing might of the south,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. TNM

OTTAWA from 1 for federal construction funding. Foran is developing the copper project in east-central Saskatchewan, with its Bigstone copper-zinc project nearby and a centralized mill in a carbon-neutral development by using electric vehicles and hydro-electric power.

“I was just actually meeting with the minister from Saskatchewan,” Wilkinson said. “That project from their perspective would be a priority, and from our perspective, we’re interested in what the provinces are interested in doing.”

The ministry has only started allocating the almost $3.8 billion in last year’s budget earmarked for spending on its critical minerals strategy to 2030. That includes $1.5 billion for infrastructure, roads and power lines, the same amount for projects as well as money for research and development such as geoscience.

The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is allocating about US$369 billion promoting the switch to cleaner energy.

He said he may have news next month on shortening British Columbia project reviews, and that Ontario must consider if developing its Ring of Fire region is going to save more carbon with green metals than will be released by building new roads and mining in muskeg swamps.

Investment screening

Some mining exploration and development companies are complaining that Canada’s new investment rules introduced last year limiting participation by foreign state-owned enterprises, i.e., China, are shrinking the money pool for new projects. And it’s occurring just when companies need cash to meet rising demand for green metals. Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) founder Robert Friedland spoke out about it on Mar. 5 at PDAC.

Wilkinson said Canada’s foreign investment rules will continue to scrutinize state-owned enterprises involved in critical mineral projects and order divestments even if the actual development isn’t in Canada, he said. China’s Zangge Mining was forced to divest a 65% stake in Ultra Lithium’s (TSXV: ULT) Laguna Verde lithium project in Argentina.

“Both we and in many Western countries that are working hard to ensure access to critical minerals, to ensure that we can successfully manage through the energy transition, want to ensure that that access is broader than just Canada and the United States.”

Ring of Fire

“I anticipate us being able to open up for applications for infrastructure money quite soon and the same thing is going to be true of the projects so that money will start to be dispersed,” he said.

“I would hope we will also see some other measures in the budget that will focus on accelerating the work in the minerals area and minerals processing area. But that of course is the purview of the minister of finance.”

In Ontario, the Ring of Fire region in the far north is advancing environmental assessments for roads that some internal government memos estimate will cost more than $2 billion to build. Environmental critics and some Indigenous groups say it will unlock the swampy area’s natural storage of carbon in peat, defeating the whole purpose of mining for green metals. Wilkinson said he was meeting with Ontario Mines Minister George Pirie on Mar. 8.

“We’re going to have that conversation about how do you move forward in a way that respects the rights of Indigenous communities in the area, and there are many, but also that is sensitive from an environmental perspective,” he said. “I’m very concerned about the peat. It’s got to be addressed.”

Minister Wilkinson, who’s represented the riding of North Vancouver since 2015, said Canada was approached for industry help at a ministerial level meeting this week because it is a global leader in exploration, development and stewardship in more than 100 countries.

“A number of the African countries were asking, is there a way that Canada could actually help to develop a toolbox around how do you actually develop a regulatory process, how do you think about water issues, how do you deal with tailings.”

Canada allocated $70 million for international collaboration after it joined the new Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance last year. It grouped together the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany and Japan to help each other on projects.

Wilkinson said he was impressed with the enthusiasm at this year’s PDAC.

“There is a real sense of optimism about the sector and its prospects,” he said. “That’s good for Canada. I keep saying everywhere I go this whole critical minerals area in particular is a generational economic opportunity.” TNM www.northernminer.com

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