TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Toronto-based Noront Resources said on Tuesday it increased the size of the measured and indicated chromite resources at the Blackbird project in northern Ontario 130% to 20.5-million tons.

The company also said it planned to do an internal study to evaluate the merits of building a mine, mill and ferrochrome smelter facility that would produce 200 000 and 250 000 t/y – around the same amount of the stainless steel-making ingredient North America imports from leading producer South Africa each year.

Inferred resources at Blackbird, located in the so-called Ring of Fire in the James Bay Lowlands, climbed to 23.5-million tons grading 33.14%, compared with the previous 6.1-million ton estimate.

Noront, listed on the TSX-V, also owns the Eagles Nest nickel project, located north of Blackbird.

“The close proximity of Blackbird to our flagship Eagle's Nest deposit offers exceptional synergies as both deposits can be exploited using the same underground infrastructure, limiting the incremental capital cost while minimizing the environmental footprint,” CEO Wes Hanson commented in a statement.

Noront is not the only company looking to develop ferrochrome production in the area.

US-based diversified miner Cliffs Natural Resources said earlier this month it plans on building a 600 000 t/y ferrochrome production facility in Ontario, with first output slated for 2015.

The company will complete a prefeasibility study in mid-2012 for this project.

South Africa, which boasts over two-thirds of the world’s chrome resources, supplies around one-third of global ferrochrome, an upgraded product used to make stainless steel.

The country’s industry has been losing market share as high power prices and the export of raw chrome ore to China put existing producers under pressure.