Chromite jobs are coming

In a part of the province where layoffs and permanent job losses have been the norm in the last two years, new employment numbers are as refreshing as they are impressive.
Cliffs Natural Resources, the leading company in the Ring of Fire mining zone, says the two-year construction of its open-pit chromite mine 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay will employ 950 people.
Once the mine is in production by 2015, the latest estimate, another 1,300 people are to work at the mine site and related smelter facility.
Cleveland-based Cliffs hasn’t yet decided where the smelter will go, but said that facility will account for up to 500 of the operation’s 1,300 jobs.
Some economic spinoff formulas contend that for every direct job another one is created, so the overall employment effect of Cliffs’ operation could be more than 2,500 jobs.
But trying to predict employment numbers can be a mug’s game.
“There is no general rule,” cautioned Lakehead University economist Livio Di Matteo. “Nobody knows.”
Among those trying to chomp down on the numbers and guesstimate what they could mean for the city’s economy is the Construction Association of Thunder Bay.
“We’re keeping an eye on it, but there’s a lot of things (about the project) that we just don’t (know) yet,” association manager Harold Lindstrom said Monday.
What is known, according to Lindstrom, is that Cliffs has been active in Thunder Bay for the past year trying to get a handle on hands-on matters related to future construction, such as the cost of labour and trucking.
Lindstrom said he believes the company will rely on Northwestern Ontario contractors for direct construction work at the mine, everything from electrical work to painting.
“There’s no doubt about it, there’s going to be a significant spinoff effect here,” said Lindstrom.