FP says Wyloo needs to think next steps for Noront

2022-01-17 09:23 ET - In the News

The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that Wyloo Metals has won the bidding war for Noront Resources and is now the presumptive owner of Ontario's Ring of Fire mineral claims. The Post's Gabriel Friedman writes that the deal should close in the next few months. The project needs a big taxpayer investment in roads and infrastructure. The Post wonders how Wyloo expects to develop the collection of mineral claims once it takes ownership. Wyloo says it wants to develop the Eagle's Nest deposit, which contains nickel, copper, platinum and palladium. Noront also controls at least four chromite deposits. Wyloo head Luca Giacovazzi believes the deposits could support mines for five or six decades. The Post says he has equivocated on when exactly his company would look to develop them. While the federal and provincial governments have started the environmental review process for building a 450-kilometre, all-season road and upgrading a 97-kilometre stretch of road to connect the area with the rest of Ontario, there has been little public debate about the cost. Noront has pegged the cost at $1.1-billion to $1.6-billion to construct. Noront has asked for a federal contribution of $557-million to $779-million.