THUNDER BAY — The provincial government needs to respond if a potential project in the Ring of Fire will see any work this winter.
Nortont’s vice-president of Aboriginal Affairs Glenn Nolan said if the company doesn’t get its permits soon, a whole season of work to get its Eagle’s Nest project off the ground will be lost. New exploration, laying the groundwork for the project’s East West road from Pickle Lake and other work can only begin if the company gets permits so it can put together a plan and start purchasing equipment and use the short winter road season to start moving it.
Timelines and the whole project itself will be ambiguous if the province doesn’t respond soon Nolan said during a Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce lunch Friday afternoon where Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle laid out his government’s vision for the North.
“You’re looking at a whole generation of lost opportunity,” Nolan said. Nolan said the company and province have different timelines. But Noront needs some guarantees to assure investors that the Eagle’s Nest will be developed.
“We need the government to really look at the applications that we put forward so these permits are granted,” Nolan said.