TO Star says Noront sees Ring of Fire get a boost

2014-02-21 09:13 ET - In the News

The Toronto Star reports in its Friday edition that Bob Rae says any funding from the Ontario and federal governments on the Ring of Fire mining project needs to address the social and economic needs of the area's first nations communities. The Star's Joel Eastwood writes that Mr. Rae is the chief negotiator for the Matawa First Nations Tribal Council, which represents nine first nations located around the Ring of Fire. Noront Resources is the main player in the region. The Ring of Fire is a rich mineral deposit in Northern Ontario. The provincial government has pledged funds to build infrastructure to allow development of the isolated area. Mining the region's gold, platinum and chromite deposits could generate billions of dollars in tax revenue and thousands of full-time jobs, says a report from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber estimates development of the region will generate more than $9-billion in GDP and almost $6.2-billion for Ontario's mining industry. The Chamber believes "the Ring of Fire provides Ontario with one of the single biggest opportunities now and certainly well into the future." Nearly $2 billion of funding is needed to build infrastructure to access the area.