Last thing first Joe:
Your 'rant' is not excused by me Because it in no rant but a valid point.

We do get hold of a topic and go on a tear but from time to time we need to refresh some of the fundamentals which while having been
discussed here to no end, it often is a long while back and almost forgotten by some among all the noise of the moment. News to novices.

Now to economic impact:
The Ring is a huge area, it is already known to have many rich mineral deposits and appropriately compared to the Sudbury Basin and recently called Ontario's equivelent of Alberta's oil patch, hence the label Ring of Fire. That means tens of billions of dollars into northern Ontario economy. Most of all the local native communities need to be self sufficient and not depandent on Federal dole.
( Ed, enough of the old rehash )

So we have ores such as chromite, nickel, copper, various precious, vanadium and who knows what else. Yes else, because the Ring has had only it's surface scratched. Most of the potential has not been explored but only guessed at.

The natives are making noise about land ownership and environment protection to get as much of the suspected pie that is the Ring.
Plain jobs are not enough.

Economics:
The chromite which is owned by already a few companies is so far the most valuable, quantity wise. It can only be brought out most economically by a rail way. So a railway has to go into the Ring, no debate about that.

The other metals are also dependent on the rail line for most economical transportation however is some cases for a short time they could in a limited way be exploited by road traffic. I say a road is needed but not for the mines but for servicing the rail line and
mostly for the local communities.

Side note: Cliffs is mentioning a road, but as Noront did with the slurry pipe, I think it is just a political ploy to put pressure on the authorities to get things moving by stressing the road alternative. I.E. Get me the rail way or I go by the other route.

Our nickel ore while not the most valuable in quantity, it is in quality. A year or two ago I mentioned a back of envelope cost approximations with operating costs for this ore was about 120$ per ton the return is 5 times that. Where does one get returns of that
magnitude and how often?
Next, our nickel ore is likely to be going first to market before any of the other ores. So where would you put you investment dollar now.
I say here especially with the sp being artificially depressed. I had hoped that Noront would give me profits that I would roll over into the other compnies in the Ring. HOWEVER other powers have twisted things around so much so that I no longer know what to do and when. What I can say with any confidence is that those powers are not playing with these shares for the sake of amusement. They are shaking trees and gathering up what falls down. I am still here following them to snatch a bit of what falls.

As to when, that is in the hands of the politicians. When they decide that they need to fund a substantial cost of the necessary infrastructures. After all, if they do not then how can they justify collecting taxes on everything afterwards?

Well my is also a rant to anyone here of any long standing hold. This is a short comment that needs repetition for any newbies.