Ring of Fire needs urgency, warns Ontario Chamber of Commerce

Ontario needs to move quickly on development of the stalled Ring of Fire mineral belt or risk losing huge economic benefits for the province when metal prices bounce back again, warns a preliminary report card by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

“Despite the tremendous economic and social opportunities the Ring of Fire affords Ontario, progress on development has been slow,” says the consultation paper obtained by the Star Wednesday.

The future of the highly-touted, mineral-rich region in the James Bay lowlands has been put in doubt by a severe downturn in the global mining industry. And Cliffs Natural Resources, the largest land claim owner in the Ring, has pulled out of the area, and its new chief executive says there is “zero chance” a mine will ever be built there with all the red tape in the way.

“Unfortunately, in the last few months, the tone of the conversation surrounding the Ring of Fire has turned net negative,” says the document, which provides a preview of the chamber’s official report card on the Ring’s progress expected in February.

“Permitting delays and seemingly interminable negotiation processes have put development a long way off. As Ontario businesses tell us over and over: There’s a greater need for urgency at the Ring of Fire,” says the report.

The site, 400 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., is estimated to have $60 billion of mineral value including base metals, platinum and palladium, along with the largest deposit of chromite (which is used to make stainless steel) in North America. The deposit is considered significant enough to sustain activity for a century.

“Experts note that there is an abundance of chromite in the world right now and the chromium market is not expected to tighten for many years,” the consultation paper notes.

The Ring, which is spread over 5,120 square kilometres of remote and rough terrain, is expected to generate nearly $2 billion in tax revenues and up to 5,500 full-time jobs in the first 10 years of mining activity, said the chamber in its economic analysis last February.

“The great tragedy for Ontario is that if it waits 10 years from now (for the market to turn around), we will miss out on these substantial benefits” considering it takes several years to build mines, said Josh Hjartarson, the chamber’s vice-president, policy and government relations.

Michael Gravelle, Ontario’s mining minster, told the Star in November the province is “absolutely committed” to the Ring of Fire mining development and that the Liberals’ pledge of $1 billion to help build much-needed transportation and power infrastructure still stands.

The province also announced last winter that it was creating a development corporation to bring miners, First Nations, and Ottawa together to kick-start development activity in the dormant mining camp, but they still need to make “major steps” soon to reap the region’s riches, the report says, adding the federal government needs to commit funding too.

Last March, First Nations entered into a regional framework agreement which will guide future agreements between government and First Nations in proximity to the Ring of Fire.