The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
The federal minister responsible for Northern Ontario continues to promote the economic potential of the Ring of Fire. Tony Clement, minister for FedNor, told the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in Toronto the Ring of Fire could create as many as 5,000 new jobs in the region if fully developed.
“The Ring of Fire represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create jobs, and generate growth and long-term prosper ity for Northern Ontario and the nation,” Clement said in a release.
“As minister for FedNor and as the federal lead minister on this initiative, I welcome the opportunity to work with all levels of government, as well as First Nations and industry stakeholders to prepare and implement the collaborative economic development approaches for the region.”
The Ring of Fire, located about 500 km northeast of Thunder Bay, is potentially the largest mining development ever seen in Northern Ontario, Clement told chamber officials. The region has significant deposits of nickel and copper and represents North America’s single largest deposit of chromite, the main ingredient in stainless steel.
With mineral content worth an estimated $30 billion to $50 billion, the Ring of Fire could create up to 5,000 direct and indirect jobs in Northern Ontario alone.
Cliffs Natural Resources of Cleveland — one of a number of companies looking to develop the Ring of Fire — wants to open a chromite mine in northwestern Ontario and ship the ore to a refinery near Capreol. That would create as many as 500 jobs in Sudbury.
For the rest of this article, please go to the Sudbury Star website: http://www.thesudburystar.com/2013/03/11/clement-continues-to-promote-ring-of-fire