Ring of Fire project will likely be delayed for a variety of reasons, says industry watcher
A mining observer and blogger predicts chromite production in the Ring of Fire may not begin until as late as 2020.
Stan Sudol said he believes the fragile global economy — along with challenges related to infrastructure and First Nations communities — will slow development of the mineral zone. But there’s also an upside to a longer wait, he said.
“It gives us a little bit more time to decide exactly what type of transportation infrastructure would be the best for the Ring of Fire and how both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities could best take advantage of this enormous transformational opportunity,” Sudol said.
Cliffs Natural Resources, the biggest company operating in the Ring of Fire, currently has a target start date of 2016. “Cliffs initially said they’re looking at 2016, but then there were some reports of 2017,” Sudol said. “I think a safer bet would be 2019 [or] 2020.”
Chance of takeover
In an e-mail to CBC News, a spokesperson for Cliffs called Sudol’s prediction about the mine’s start-up timeline and the company’s potential as a takeover target “pure speculation” on his part.