Northern communities looking to cash in on the Ring of Fire development in Ontario's Far North should zero in on their areas of expertise to attract investment opportunities in the service and supply sector.

“There will be a huge opportunity on the value-added strategy piece,” said Ring of Fire Secretariat Christine Kaszycki. “Opportunities for the supply and service sector in Northern Ontario, and specifically Northeastern Ontario, will be quite significant as this project unfolds.”

Sudbury, for example, is renowned for its research facilities, the ability to train highly qualified professionals, a ready-made workforce, and a supply and service sector that's on the international stage. The city would benefit from promoting these attributes, she said.

Speaking at a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce luncheon on May 17, Kaszycki said the initiative “is considered to have the potential to be one of the most significant developments in quite a long time,” but government is moving forward cautiously.

Stakeholders have an opportunity to plan ahead to ensure that social needs and supports are in place for First Nations communities within the Ring of Fire, she added.

“The communities are remote; they're very small,” Kaszycki said. “The smallest has 200 to 300 people on reserve. Things that will be key to the success of the initiative will focus on our ability to support communities and building their capacity to meaningfully participate and engage.”

The communities have limited means for electricity generation and construction of new buildings, in addition to social challenges such as prescription drug abuse problems.

Although still early on in the process, the province is aiming to introduce skills training and development initiatives so people in these remote communities can gain employment when work in the mineral belt begins.

Through the Northern Training Partnership Fund, which will receive $45 million over three years, people can apply for assistance towards acquiring skills and training related to community-based land use planning in the Far North.

The New Relationship Fund, which was a recommendation coming out of the Ipperwash Inquiry in 2007, has been designed to help Aboriginal communities and organizations across Ontario participate in meaningful consultations with government and the private sector. It's been allocated $60 million over four years.

Additional collaborations with the federal government and the mining companies will concentrate on economic development. Because the process is starting early, Kaszycki is confident the communities can benefit.

Development, too, remains in the early stages. Cliffs Natural Resources and Noront Resources, two leading mining players in the Ring, are both projecting startup for 2015-2016. Environmental assessment approvals and feasibility studies are expected to be completed in 2013, with production and construction anticipated to start within a year. Companies are now preparing to move forward with advanced exploration and pre-feasibility.

When it comes to how development moves forward, a number of key questions still need to be answered, Kaszycki added.

A transportation corridor must be established. While Cliffs has proposed an all-weather road along the north-south corridor, Noront favours an all-weather road along the east-west corridor, and KWG Resources is looking at rail transport.

“I'm not sure there is a favourite to be played here at this point,” Kaszycki said. “Part of the challenge and opportunity is to look holistically at what the totality of infrastructure needs and opportunities are.”

The preferred transportation option may hinge on how communications infrastructure — poles and wires for transmission and broadband initiatives — is implemented, she added.

Power requirements will also need to be addressed. Cliffs has estimated a need of 25 MW of power to run its mine and power concentrator, with potentially an additional 300 MW to run the ferrochrome processing facility, while Noront is predicting a need of 25 MW for its mining concentrator.

With such significant power requirements, the companies may want to start looking at opportunities to get away from using diesel and connect to the province's power grid, which First Nations could then tap into, Kaszycki said.