Keeping their eye on the ball

KOPER LAKE – Sticking to the basics, keep their eye on the ball and concentrate on making contact is the strategy Noront Resources is continuing as it continues to outpace all others in the most touted mining discovery in a generation – the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario.

CEO and president of Noront Alan Coutts brakes down the complexity of his specific proposal to create a viable mine in one of the remotest parts of the province.

“You don’t need to go for the grand slam homerun right away. You just need to get a base hit,” said Coutts.

After years standing in the on deck circle Noront is preparing to take its best swing for that base hit this year applying for permit approvals for a permanent road to the mine site about 500 km north of Timmins. The road would run east-west from Pickle Lake above Thunder Bay running mostly along a route that serves four First Nations communities via winter road.

“We’ve always said, ‘Lets get a road in and help some communities, get some people trained, create opportunities for the First Nations, start building infrastructure, get the mine going, shipping product to market and start making some money.”

With a 282 km route to cover across James Bay Lowlands the company is saying it is the best way to push their proposed Eagle’s Nest deposit from very expensive find to an active mine.

The road is plan A in a draft environmental assessment proposal submitted jointly to the federal and provincial governments this past December with plans to submit a formal proposal early this year so work can start next winter to connect the Ring of Fire by something other than air transport.

While the company has some ideas about how to build the road, paying for it is something that remains up in the air. Noront is prepared to budget an amount of money in the tens of millions of dollars towards it but believes the government should also be at the table. The east-west route could bring direct year-round road access to the First Nations of Webequie, Naskantanga, Nibinamik and Eabamatoong – all currently fly-in communities relying on diesel generation – along with the possibility of hooking into the provincial grid.

Coutts points to the positives this could bring to communities where employment, health issues and social problems are major concerns, not to mention the cost of living of either flying everything in or waiting for the winter roads to establish a lifeline.

“We certainly think there’s a role for the provincial and federal governments to play here,” said Coutts.

He sees next winter as being an important goal for beginning construction on the road, first putting in a winter road to move in construction equipment and start quarrying rock for road building near the main found deposit. The cavern created by the aggregate operation would then be used for the mining operation.

Coutts has more than some confidence the approvals will come in time even though it needs to go through two levels of government and will need support from the First Nations of the area.

“We engaged the communities early in the process and gathered feedback about what they want in the report… Some of the designs we’re incorporating in the project are working around those concerns,” said Coutts.

Coutts himself has been flying into the First Nations communities along the proposed road route and consulting with them about the draft environmental assessment report in preparation for the final that will likely go out this spring.

Speaking for the company Coutts notes the east-west road has always been identified in their feasibility studies and proposals as a key first step.

“We’ve always said, ‘Lets get a road in and help some communities, get some people trained, create opportunities for the First Nations, start building infrastructure, get the mine going, shipping product to market and start making some money,” said Coutts.