In chatting with Jim Voisin (UC Resources), he says the biggest challenge for any civil engineer with regards to pushing a road/rail link to Eagle1 (as an example) would be getting across the Albany River. I have never seen the Albany but it sounds awfully big.
Maybe a civil engineer is the best person to ask. But I guess that putting a bridge across the Albany would cost as much as the rest of the road. Millions. Perhaps we should ask Cliffs Natural Resources. I believe they're doing some very detailed due diligence on such matters.
There are some excellent maps of Northern Ontario at:
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/tra...
Find Armstrong on map 13 and go north. You'll find the Albany River. And the same with map 14 to the east. The Albany looms large on both.
Snug