Mineral deposit in Canada
The Ring of Fire is a vast, mineral-rich region located in the remote James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario, Canada. Spanning approximately , the area is rich in chromite, nickel, copper, platinum group elements, gold, zinc, and other valuable minerals. Discovered in the early 21st century, the Ring of Fire is considered one of the most significant mineral deposits in Canada, with the potential to greatly impact the nation's economy and global mining industry. The development of this region has been a subject of ongoing debate, as stakeholders weigh the economic benefits against environmental concerns and the rights of Indigenous communities in the area. Despite these challenges, the Ring of Fire had remained a focal point for the Canadian mining sector and government, as well as international investors. By July 2023, the federal and provincial governments were no longer in agreement on priorities for federal funding of the Ring of Fire. Georgia Lake lithium project, KGHM's Victoria mine proposal and the Onaping Depth nickel project—which will produce minerals required for the low carbon economy—had become higher priorities, particularly as the Ring of Fire project is situated in a region of "vast, environmentally sensitive...peatlands".
Geography.
The region is centred on McFaulds Lake, near the Attawapiskat River in Kenora District, approximately northeast of Thunder Bay, about east of Webequie, and due north of Marten Falls and Ogoki Post, which is near/on the (Albany River) west of James Bay.
The Ring of Fire development impacts nine First Nations, and potential developers are required to negotiate an Impact Benefit Agreement with these communities prior to development.
History of development.
2003.
In 2003, Noront Resources began using two frozen lakes—Koper Lake, located about north of Marten Falls, and McFaulds Lake—as landing strips without consulting Martens Falls and Webequie First Nations. The "Mining Act" only allows exploration activities, not the construction of permanent structures. Marten Falls First Nations Chief Eli Moonias explained in 2010 that Noront Resources did not have "permits to construct landing strips on the string bog or roads to the nearby airstrip". "The two First Nations proposed that they should build and maintain the infrastructure to prevent further damage to the wetlands environment." Marten Falls First Nations Chief Eli Moonias described how over a seven-year period, Noront Resources "sunk machines here and they have done outrageous acts here". In the fall of 2009, the companies "used a helicopter to break ice here with a log". On February 3, 2010, Noront Resources Ltd. was trying to build a "[landing] strip here on the string bog". In January 2010, Chief Eli Moonias, Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse, and community members set up a blockade on the landing strips at Koper and McFaulds Lakes. Martens Falls and Webequie First Nations ended their blockade on March 19, 2010, with the admonition that they would resume the action if their concerns were not addressed by Noront within six months. Although the protest ended, Noront continued to use the frozen lakes as landing strips until break-up in 2010. Chief Eli Moonias expressed environmental concerns over "sewage, grey-water, oil spills and road clearing" over the seven-year period.
2007.
The Ring of Fire was named when the first significant mineral finds were made in the region, by Richard Nemis, after Johnny Cash's famous country and western ballad. Prior to its discovery, Canada and the United States were compelled to rely on offshore sources for chromite, principally from South Africa.
On 28 August 2007, Noront Resources announced the discovery of a "large find" of "high grade deposit" of platinum, palladium, nickel, and copper northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Its underground mine project is called the Eagle's Nest Project. To reduce heavy truck traffic, Noront is planning to build a buried -long slurry pipeline, using new technology safety features, from the site to Webequie Junction.
2009.
Cliffs Natural Resources, of Cleveland, Ohio, originally had an "ambitious timetable for developing the Black Thor chromite deposit", hoping to complete permits and environmental assessment approvals by the end of 2013 (MRI). In September 2003, a junior company, Freewest Resources Canada, began exploring Black Thor using airborne geophysics and ground geophysics. In February 2008 findings of a chromite prospect with an estimated strike length, a depth of , and a width containing an estimated 72 megatonnes of chromite ore (42% Cr2O3). in September 2009. In October 2009, Noront Resources (NOT-V) made a hostile takeover bid for Freewest Resources (FWR-V). In November 2009, Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF-N), the world's largest iron ore pellet supplier, purchased Freewest Resources' share of the chromite-rich "high-grade Black Thor, Black Label and Big Daddy deposits in the remote "Ring of Fire" metals" for $240 million. In November 2009, Joseph Carrabba, Cliffs' president and CEO, claimed the "world-class deposits" had the "potential to support an open pit mine producing 1 to 2 million tonnes per year for more than thirty years". Carrabba announced that the ore would be "further processed into 400,000–800,000 tonnes of ferrochrome". The purchase was finalized in 2010.
According to Carrabba the area of the Ring of Fire that Cliffs acquired in 2009 represents one of the "premier chromite deposits in the world. Chromite is smelted to produce ferrochrome which is used globally in the production of stainless steel and is categorized as a strategic metal resource by many countries.
2011.
In 2011, environmental assessments by the Canadian federal and Ontario provincial governments began for Cliffs Natural Resources' proposed Black Thor Project and Noront Resources's Eagles Nest Project, with both companies volunteering "to make their projects subject to an environmental assessment under the "Ontario Environmental Assessment Act" (EAA) and are completing environmental assessments under the "Canadian Environmental Assessment Act" (CEAA)".
In 2011, Ontario's Ministry of Northern Development and Mines created the Ring of Fire Secretariat, with Christine Kaszyckias as its coordinator, to develop "the chromite and other deposits in the Ring of Fire as quickly as possible and with due regard to environmental impacts and the needs of the Aboriginal communities within the region". It outlined strategies regarding First Nations partnerships, including resource revenue sharing, regional infrastructure planning, long-term environmental monitoring, community-based capacity funding, relationship agreements, land use planning, employment and income assistance, skills development, training and job creation, transportation and community infrastructure, and socio-economic and community development in response to concerns by industry and First Nations communities.
2012.
In May 2012, Cliffs Natural Resources announced a "$3.3-billion investment to build a chromite mine, transportation corridor and processing facility in northern Ontario's Ring of Fire that would lead to a new generation of prosperity in the north, with thousands of jobs and new infrastructure". Natural Resources minister Michael Gravelle announced that the smelter would be in Sudbury, Ontario.
On 26 April 2013, Tony Clement called the Ring of Fire the oil sands of Ontario. On 13 June 2013, Cliffs announced it would put its $3.3-billion project on hold pending results of negotiations between First Nations and Queen's Park. Clement said that the Ring of Fire would bring "about a hundred years of mining activity that will spin-off jobs and economic activity for generations".
The Ontario government has called the Ring of Fire region “one of the most promising mineral development opportunities for critical minerals in the province”, citing the region’s long-term potential to produce, chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper, and platinum.
In May 2012, Cliffs Natural Resources announced its intention of investing $3.3 billion in Northern Ontario's Ring of Fire region, which would include a chromite mine, a transportation corridor and a smelter in Sudbury, Ontario. Cliffs initially invested $550 million to acquire and begin development. By 2013, Cliffs had suspended the project "after numerous delays and difficult discussions with the province [of Ontario] and the First Nations communities". Cliffs sold its assets to the smaller Canadian company, Noront Resources Ltd. for USD20 million.
The Ontario government and Premier Doug Ford have stated their enthusiasm and intent in connecting the Ring of Fire and Northern Ontario’s industries, resources and workers to the south of the province in order to “build up home-grown supply chains”. In its collaboration with First Nation partners, the Ontario government has said it is “continuing to make progress in a corridor to prosperity (roadway) to the 'Ring of Fire' region." Toronto-based consultant, Stan Sudol, added that the government should “accelerate road development into the Ring of Fire”, as it currently undergoes an Indigenous-led environmental assessments by Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations who support the mining project.
On 12 November 2012, Tony Clement was appointed as the lead federal minister on the Ring of Fire and co-chair, with Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Bernard Valcourt, of the Federal Steering Committee (FCS), which represents 15 federal departments. Clement invited Ontario Natural Resources minister Michael Gravelle "to collaborate on projects, community visits, information-sharing, and to hold joint meetings". Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) led other federal departments and FedNor in the development of "Action Plan for Supporting Community Participation in the Ring of Fire" to help "position First Nations to benefit from proposed mining projects".
On May 8, 2012, Premier Dalton McGuinty wrote Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on the eve of Cliffs Natural Resources' announcement of the location of its ferrochrome processing facility, asking for federal government assistance "to engage First Nations in the region to help those communities benefit from this historic opportunity". Along with federal funds to improve First Nations education on reserves and for drug treatment programs, McGuinty asked for "a tripartite process".
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Quote_box/styles.css" / ;
Canada needs to deal with the acknowledged and widespread problems of inadequate First Nation's social and community infrastructure. To this end, there needs to be an immediate investment in the First Nations communities located in the Ring of Fire area so that a healthy and skilled First Nations workforce will be ready to participate fully in the many opportunities presented by this development.
McGuinty 25 May 2012
By 2012, there were 30,000 claims, 35 prospecting companies, and significant discoveries of chromium, copper, zinc, nickel, platinum, vanadium and gold; there were only two major development proposals, Noront Resources's Eagle's Nest Project and Cliffs Natural Resources. KWG Resources entered into a joint venture agreement with Bold Ventures (TSX:BOL) on its $5 million Koper Lake Project. In February 2013, Richard Nemis, CEO of Bold Ventures, obtained a Marten Falls First Nation Land Use Permit to operate the camp using "three diamond drills provided by Cyr International Drilling and Orbit Garant Drilling" to carry out approximately of diamond drilling on nickel‐copper and chromite targets. Operator Bold Ventures was required to cease drilling activities from March 31, 2012, until April 13, 2013, to ensure the First Nations' permit was granted under the Mining Act, and a permit issued by a Director of Exploration from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines was obtained. Probe Mines owned the entire Victory Project, which consists of "452 claims totaling 7,232 hectares and covers the interpreted southeast extension of the McFauld's Lake" and the Tamarack Project which "comprises 360 claims covering over 5,700 hectares of the McFauld's Lake in the Ring of Fire".
Environmental concerns listed in a Lakehead University 2012 report regarding Noront Resources's Eagle's Nest Project include pipeline leaks, a "a large edge effect", a "significant loss of biodiversity at local &amp; regional level" from "linear constructions" such as roads. Despite state-of-the-art technology, environmental risks of underground pipelines in the wetlands, excluding the risk of leaks, include alterations of "hydrology, thermal regime, soil structure and vegetation of ecosystem".
The Eagle’s Nest Mine is expected to produce “3,000 tonnes of ore per day, which will be mined by underground methods and processed to deliver 150,000 to 250,000 tonnes of nickel-bearing concentrate per year." According to Noront Resources, citing its extensive discussions with local communities and other stakeholders, the company says its design will be the first mine to have all its tailings remain underground and “100% of process plant water will be recycled to minimize the discharge of effluents.” Further, it is reported to reach commercial production 3 years after permits are received and its mine life is expended to be 11 years, with the possibility of an additional 9.
2013.
According to "Northern Ontario Business" article, Cliffs Natural Resources, the Ohio-based firm that held the majority share in Big Daddy chromite deposit, was seeking an easement through Ontario's Mining and Landings Commissioner on the KWG corridor to build their access road. The minority share partner in Big Daddy, KWG Resources, a Toronto-based junior miner, held a 30 percent stake