TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The province of Ontario and Matawa-member First Nations on Wednesday took an important step to move development of the province’s vast northernmost mineral wealth forward, by reaching a landmark regional framework agreement that will ensure First Nation communities benefit from the proposed Ring of Fire (RoF) mining camp.

The agreement is a first step in a historic, community-based negotiation process, which began in July last year at the request of nine Matawa-member First Nations.

"This regional framework agreement is a landmark achievement in community and regional discussions. I am proud that our collaborative work with Matawa-member First Nations continues to progress.

“Together, we are moving forward on realising the RoF’s potential and making important advancements on regional, environmental, and economic developments,” Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle said.

Guided by the newly inked framework agreement, the negotiation process could now move forward on a community-based regional approach to development in the RoF.

"Improving the quality of life and creating lasting economic benefits for First Nations communities is a priority for this government. This regional framework is a historic agreement that demonstrates how respectful dialogue, negotiation and collaboration can move economic development projects forward, creating benefits for everyone involved,” provincial Minister of Aboriginal Affairs David Zimmer said.

The agreement aims to ensure that First Nations and Ontario can work together to advance RoF opportunities, including regional long-term environmental monitoring and enhanced participation in environmental assessment processes, resource revenue sharing, economic supports, regional and community infrastructure.

The Ontario provincial government last month announced that it had appointed professional services firm Deloitte to help establish the development corporation that would be responsible for coordinating infrastructure in the mineral-rich RoF region in the forbidding northern reaches of the province.

In an attempt to kick-start the development corporation - which was established last year to bring together private and public partners, including key mining companies, First Nations, and the provincial and federal governments to drive infrastructure in the remote region forward, Deloitte would act as a neutral, third-party resource for key partners, including First Nations, the provincial and federal governments and industry.

In July last year, Ontario appointed former Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci as the lead negotiator on behalf of Ontario to participate in discussions with the Matawa-member First Nations communities on proposed resource development in the RoF.

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The RoF, in the McFaulds Lake area of the James Bay Lowlands - about 540 km north-east of Thunder Bay, has attracted much attention over the past couple of years, with exploration drills turning for minerals, including chrome, nickel, copper and platinum-group metals.

The remoteness of the area is underscored by the fact that five First Nations are only accessible by air or winter road, while four of the First Nations are drive-in communities. However, all nine First Nations would be impacted by resource development in the RoF.

It includes the largest deposit of chromite ever discovered in North America, which is a critical ingredient used to create stainless steel.

Gravelle labelled the RoF as a multigenerational economic opportunity for the province with known mineral potential worth $60-billion, which represented one of the largest known deposits in the world.

The RoF also presents an unprecedented opportunity for job creation with long-term benefits for communities in the North and the entire province.

But the region, where more than 20 companies hold claims, needs infrastructure, most critically transportation infrastructure, to turn it into Canada’s newest mining camp. It is estimated that the region needs about C$2.25-billion in transportation and industrial infrastructure.

Junior explorer KWG Resources, through a subsidiary, Canada Chrome Corporation, controls the key transportation route on land, which it acquired through claim staking in 2009.

KWG has proposed a rail route connecting to the CN transcontinental rail line at the Exton rail siding to transport ore to consumers, competing with its US-based joint venture partner Cliffs Natural Resources, which has proposed an all-weather road south connecting to the same rail line west of Exton. Cliffs’ plan is to transport chromite concentrate by rail to Capreol, in the Sudbury area, where it plans to build a ferrochrome production facility.

However, Cliffs in November announced that it would suspend indefinitely its $3.3-billion Black Thor chromite project, citing the uncertain timeline and risks associated with developing the necessary infrastructure to bring this project on line.

Cliffs had also become embroiled in a legal battle for access to mining claims held by KWG, over which the only viable access route to the chromite deposits could be constructed.

The Ontario Minister of the Attorney General had last month brought a motion in the Ontario Divisional Court for leave to intervene in Cliffs’ appeal of the decision of the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner released last September.