Ring of Fire protest planned in Sudbury

A protest against the so-called Ring of Fire is planned for Thursday in Sudbury.

A group calling itself Stop the Ring of Fire – Water is Life – Anishinabek Rights Now has organized the protest. In a post on its Facebook page, Stop the Ring of Fire – Water is Life – Anishinabek Rights Now is highly critical of the mining industry and government.

“Mining companies continue to destroy our homelands, steal our wealth, and leave us with scraps we are told to be grateful for …

“We are a group of people committed to helping the larger network of allies around Anishinabe Aki and Turtle Island who want corrupt governments and corporations to face the consequences for the irresponsible and seemingly deliberate destruction and abuse of our planet and its peoples.

“We want all mining in the Ring of Fire area to STOP!”

The demonstration is scheduled to take place from 9 a.m. to noon at the intersection off Ramsey Lake Road that leads to the campus of Laurentian University.

The Facebook page said a round dance and traffic stoppage for three minutes will take place at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. to pray and to celebrate water.

The Ring of Fire is a massive mineral find in northwestern Ontario that contains potentially billions in nickel, copper, chromite and platinum group metals.

Noront Resources plans to open a chromite mine and send ore to a smelter either in Timmins or Sault Ste. Marie for processing, creating hundreds of direct and indirect jobs.

A ferrochrome facility would process chromite from the Ring of Fire. Chromite is then used to make stainless steel.

The company at one time was also considering Coniston as the potential location for its chromite smelter, but earlier this year narrowed its list to the Sault and Timmins.

While Sudbury had the lowest operating cost, it included significant capital costs such as site preparation earthworks and reestablishment of critical infrastructure. It also faced strong opposition from the local community.