Conservatives endorse mining tax royalties for First Nations – by Bryan Phelan (Wawatay News – September 18, 2013)

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Ontario Progressive Conservatives say a share of the mining tax royalties should go to First Nations and other communities that build and support new mines.

Tim Hudak, the PC leader, introduced a policy “white paper” outlining his party’s position on the North during a visit to Thunder Bay on Sept. 17.

“The Ring of Fire is the greatest mining discovery of a lifetime but the project has gone nowhere,” Hudak stated in the introduction to the policy paper, titled Paths to Prosperity: A Champion for Northern Jobs and Resources.

To ensure mining development moves ahead, “As a first step, we need to work with business and Aboriginal communities to expedite the construction of an all-season transportation link to the Ring of Fire deposits,” the paper suggests.

The policy release comes one week after the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner dismissed an application from Cliffs Natural Resources for an easement that would allow the company to build an all-weather road to the Ring of Fire over mining claims staked by another company.

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A pitch for higher level of Ring review – by by Karen Peterson (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – September 16, 2013)

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Karen A. Peterson is a consultant in planning, development and impact assessment and a member of Environment North.

Northern Ontario is poised for development, anticipating a multi-billion dollar mining industry and the creation of thousands of jobs. To plan for a sustainable future and to avoid irreversible consequences, an Environmental Assessment (EA) at the highest level of scrutiny is in order.

Review panels are established when the potential for significant impacts is high and/or when serious public concerns are being raised. Although serious concerns are continually being raised regarding the adequacy of the current Comprehensive EA Study to address the magnitude of issues in the Ring of Fire, government has yet to bump up the process to the scrutiny of a Joint Review.

Joint Review Panels are set up when decisions are required by both the federal government and another jurisdiction to avoid duplication. Joint Reviews offer the most comprehensive analysis and public participation. The federal minister of environment, in collaboration with their jurisdictional counterpart, appoints a group of independent experts to conduct the Joint Review in relation to a set of guidelines.

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Tories would speed up development of Ring of Fire, says Tim Hudak – by Richard J. Brennan (Toronto Star – September 17, 2013)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Tory Leader Tim Hudak is promising to release northern Ontario from the shackles that have prevented it from reaching its economic potential.

Tory Leader Tim Hudak promises to release northern Ontario from provincial shackles that he says have prevented it from reaching its full economic potential. In his party’s latest policy paper, Hudak said a Progressive Conservative government would speed up development of the Ring of Fire — site of one of the world’s largest mineral deposits, which the plan likens to the riches of the Alberta oil sands or Saskatchewan’s potash.

“The Ring of Fire is the great mining discovery of a lifetime, but the project has gone nowhere. Our once-burgeoning forest industry has shrunk and mills have closed,” Hudak stated in the policy paper, which blames high electricity and energy costs for gutting the pulp and paper industry.

“I see a north of great destiny. A Northern Ontario that is going to drive renewed prosperity right across Ontario,” said Hudak, who released his party’s position on the north in Thunder Bay on Monday.

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KWG disappointed in rail delays, reaffirms support for union’s ‘New Deal’ – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – September 16, 2013)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Chromite mining hopeful KWG Resources on Monday expressed its disappointment in the near three-year delay of a planned railway into the Ring of Fire and reaffirmed its belief that a 300 km rail track would open up the region for mining.

After staking the right-of-way claims and conducting preliminary railroad engineering design and assessment, the development of the Ring of Fire railroad concept was delayed as a result of the dispute with US iron-ore major and joint-venture (JV) partner Cliffs Natural Resources, before the provincial Mining and Lands Commissioner last week dismissed Cliffs’ request to the Natural Resources Ministry for a road-access easement over KWG’s claims.

“We believe the railway is in the public interest and can be used to benefit the various mines in the Ring of Fire, as well as local communities, and is a much better alternative to a private road; a higher-cost transportation option, which the government is currently considering funding,” KWG president Frank Smeenk said in a statement.

While KWG proposed a rail route connecting at Exton to transport chromite to export markets, Cliffs proposes an all-weather road south towards Capreol, in the Sudbury area, where it has proposed to build a chromite beneficiation facility.

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Little Engine that Could pushes rail solution in Ring of Fire – by Wendy Parker (In Support of Mining.com – September 16, 2013)

http://insupportofmining.wordpress.com/

Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner Report

Boy! Divert your attention for a few days to deal with some pressing business matters, and all heck breaks loose in Ontario’s Ring of Fire mineral zone.

Thanks to a news release from KWG Resources, we learned last week that Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner has rejected a bid from Cliffs Natural Resources for leave to seek an easement that would allow it to build an all-weather access road across a string of mining claims owned by Canada Chrome Corporation, a KWG subsidiary.

Cliffs wanted to dispense with the need to obtain the claimholder’s consent before applying for the easement under the Public Lands Act. The Commissioner’s tribunal, after hearing evidence and arguments in February, found no clear public interest that would outweigh the potential damage such an easement might do to the claimholder’s rights under the Mining Act.

As a result, the Cliffs request failed.

That’s a nutshell version of the decision, of course. The actual September 10 Order is much more nuanced and intricate. It is well worth reading in its 43-page entirety, both for the logic it applies to its deliberations and for the light it casts on a fascinating story behind Ring of Fire development.

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NEWS RELEASE: KWG Resources Inc.: Business Plan for ONR Development of Ring of Fire

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Sept. 16, 2013) – KWG Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:KWG) has previously advised the Minister of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) that it would support the business plan proposed by the “New Deal” of the General Chairperson’s Association (GCA) representing unionized employees at Ontario Northland.

It is a simple plan:

MNDM would lodge its shares in ONR with a new agency governed by the First Nations and other residents of Northern Ontario, under federal oversight, thus avoiding the very substantial termination and closure liabilities attending the previously proposed liquidation;
KWG would make its railroad engineering and right-of-way claims available for extension of the ONR network to the Ring of Fire; and
The new agency would finance the new construction and continuing operations of the ONR by providing transportation “at cost” to the new Ring of Fire mines, to repay borrowings made at current low interest rates but amortized over the very long life of the new mines and rail line.
Developing the Ring of Fire with a Northern Ontario transportation utility:

Providing egress at cost, will give the Canadian chromium an important advantage that it needs in order to earn a market share.

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Ontario’s Mining Albatross: Ring of Fire on life-support for years to come – by Bill Gallagher LL.B. Strategist (September 13, 2013)

www.billgallagher.ca

The opening sentence of the latest legal ruling emanating from the James Bay lowlands says it all: “The north is not a quiet place”. That’s because throughout this 43-page ruling it’s the lawyers who are profiled in full court press in what is a tour de force of no-holds-barred resource sector litigating. They’re the sole reason the north is not a quiet place; because when the dust settles, this ruling will make the Ring of Fire quieter than a subarctic winter’s night for years to come.

To cut to the chase, Cliff’s Natural Resources has failed in its drive to force KWG Resources to accommodate its proposed all-season road (intending to run along the latter’s proposed rail line). Both proposals centered on KWGs ‘corridor’ of mining claims that likewise run along the only elevated / esker route into the Ring of Fire. What this means is that KWG Resources has 100% maintained its priority of mining claims integrity – as the only route into the Ring of Fire. Cliffs has been denied access.

As in The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, this ruling will now hang over the Ring of Fire like a dead albatross. The only question is who gets to have it hung around their neck; because this ruling puts all the players in the same boat in terms of project doldrums. As limericks go (with apologies to Coleridge):

Water, water every where … nor any drop to drink

Lawyers, lawyers everywhere … nor any shaft to sink.

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Ring of Fire in jeopardy, says Cliffs – by Jamie Monastyrski (Wawatay News – September 13, 2013)

http://www.wawataynews.ca/

It’s one step ahead and two steps behind lately for the future development of the Ring of Fire. The controversial proposal by Cliffs Natural Resources for an easement to build an all-weather road that would connect to the Ring of Fire was rejected Sept. 10 by the Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner in a 43-page ruling.

“The decision by the commission was very disappointing,” said Jason Aagenes, director of environmental affairs for Cliffs Natural Resources in an interview.

“We view the north-south corridor as critical to the Ring of Fire development as well as a key component of our project. This does jeopardize the viability of the project going forward unless it is resolved.”

The ruling found the easement breaches rival company KWG Resources Inc.’s rights under Ontario’s Mining Act and that Cliffs did not demonstrate the 350-km road is in the public interest. The proposed road would cross over mining claims owned by KWG, an exploration stage company, which staked the ground in 2009 for a future railroad.

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Mines minister hasn’t seen business plan for Ring of Fire railway – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – September 13, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Ontario’s mines minister says the province has never seen a business plan for a proposed railway to the Ring of Fire.

Earlier this week the Mining and Lands Commissioner dismissed applications from Cliffs Natural Resources for easements to build a road to mineral deposits in the North. The narrow corridor needed for the road is already staked by KWG Resources for a proposed railway instead.

On Friday Northern Development and Mines minister Michael Gravelle said while Cliffs has shown its $3.3 billion plan for the area, he’s never seen one from KWG.

But the province wants to see any plan put forward for the Ring of Fire, he added. As for the decision, Gravelle said his ministry and the Ministry of Natural Resources didn’t want to be a part of the commissioner hearings out of respect for the independent process.

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Rail best option for Ring of Fire, union says – by Staff (North Bay Nugget – September 13,2013)

http://www.nugget.ca/

The best, most cost-efficient and environmentally responsible manner to provide transportation into and out of the Ring of Fire development is a railway, according to Ontario Northland’s General Chairperson’s Association.

Brian Kelly issued the statement Thursday in response to this week’s decision by the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner to dismiss the application by Cliffs Natural Resources for an easement to allow that company to build an all-weather road over mining claims staked by KWG Resources.

“A private, provincially funded $700 million-plus road is in no one’s best interest, least of all taxpayers,” the GCA spokesperson said.

“This Mining and Land Commissioner decision finally quashes this ill-conceived scheme to sink millions upon millions of taxpayers’ dollars into a private road built through muskeg that would require millions upon millions of more tax dollars to maintain the road on a yearly basis. This single purpose road would do nothing to improve the social and economic development for First Nation’s communities in the region.”

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Ring of Fire is little known, understood – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 13, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Much of Ontario’s future prosperity depends upon the success of developing the Ring of Fire, but many people in the province don’t know it. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is conducting a study to measure the economic benefit of mining the ring’s rich chromite deposits and to raise awareness outside the North about their tremendous potential.

In fact, some observers believe the Ring of Fire could be worth as much as $50 billion to Ontario and be mined for as long as a century.

In Sudbury, Cliffs Natural Resources has plans to open a chromite mine in the Ring of Fire area and ship the ore to a plant in Capreol for processing, creating up to 500 jobs. However, those plans are on hold as the company sorts through a number of political, infrastructure and environmental issues.

To get people talking about the Ring of Fire, the Ontario chamber, in conjunction with the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, will hold a by-invitation-only round table in the city Oct. 9.

There it will seek business and community leaders “prescriptions” for how to move the project forward, says the senior policy adviser for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

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Ring of Fire logjam broken – by Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (September 12, 2013)

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

A CO-ORDINATED effort by Northwest First Nations to delay the Ring of Fire mining development appears to have fallen apart. And that’s a good thing. Now First Nations in the zone of the Ring’s major player, Cliffs Natural Resources, can each get on with arrangements to share in the opportunities that can flow from such a large project.

Matawa Tribal Council’s initial concerns were understandable. Told the federal government and Cliffs were jointly pursuing an environmental review, the nine Matawa First Nations in the area worried it would not be sufficient to allay their concerns about potential pollution or include them in the process.

Matawa launched a judicial review of the environmental assessment process and in June Cliffs put a hold on its own environmental impact statement (EIS) citing issues with First Nations, the province and other matters. The sheer enormity of the Ring of Fire meant all parties had to be sure it was done properly. None more than First Nations who have watched resource developments around them come and go with little to show for it.

The Matawa challenge and Cliffs’ shift to neutral seemed to signal an uncomfortable lull in the most exciting economic news the Northwest had heard in many years.

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Rail over road [Ring of Fire] – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – September 12, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

A decision on a lifeline into the Ring of Fire has left one company feeling vindicated and another disappointed.

Surrounded by muskeg, claims in the proposed mining area are nearly inaccessible by land. But nature left a narrow strip of sand ridges, averaging 100 metres wide, from Exton all the way to the South end of the mineral deposits heralded as a massive economic boom for the region.

Those ridges were staked in 2009 by KWG Resources for a proposed railway. In 2012 Cliffs Natural Resources applied for 122 easements to build its proposed road around the same strip of land.

On Tuesday Ontario’s Mining and Lands Commissioner dismissed those applications after a week of hearings in February. Cliffs’ environmental director Jason Aagenes said the company is disappointed.

“We view the North-South road as a key component to our project and the Ring of Fire in general,” he said. But KWG’s vice-president of exploration and development, Moe Lavinge, said it proves what his company has said all along.

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NEWS RELEASE: GCA comments on Ring of Fire right of way decision

NORTH BAY, ON, Sept. 12, 2013 /CNW/ – The General Chairperson’s Association (GCA) representing unionized employees at Ontario Northland is pleased with this week’s decision by the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner to dismiss the application by Cliffs Natural Resources for an easement to allow that company to build an all-weather road over mining claims staked by KWG Resources.

“The GCA believes the best, most cost efficient and environmentally responsible manner to provide transportation into and out of the Ring of Fire development for all stakeholders is a railway. A private, provincially funded $700M + road is in no one’s best interest, least of all taxpayers” said GCA spokesperson Brian Kelly

In the fall of 2012, the GCA unveiled a high level proposal that would, in consultation with the Government of Ontario, Government of Canada and First Nations create a new federal crown corporation that would see all ONTC assets including its telecom division ONTERA transferred. This new crown corporation would provide an expanded and revitalized, integrated transportation and communication system across the north while having the ability to obtain financing to design and build a railway into the Ring of Fire that would ship thousands of tons per day of chromite, nickel, other minerals and finished products to markets around the world.

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Cliffs Natural Resources rebuffed – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – September 12, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Developing the mineral-rich Ring of Fire area of Northwestern Ontario could be pushed back years if Cliffs Natural Resources appeals a ruling by the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner, a mining rival suggested Wednesday.

The commissioner has dismissed an application by a subsidiary of Cliffs for an easement over mining claims staked in the Ring of Fire by Canada Chrome Corp., a subsidiary of rival KWG Resources Ltd.

Through 2274659 Ontario Inc., Cliffs applied for the easement to build an all-weather road to transport ore from its Black Thor deposit in the Ring of Fire, about 540 kilometres Northeast of Thunder Bay, to Nakina.

From there, it would be shipped by rail to a ferrochrome processing plant to be built in Capreol. Cliffs has 30 days to decide if it will appeal the ruling, which KWG’s Moe Lavigne heralded as “vindication” of his company’s interpretation of the Ontario Mining Act.

If Cliffs doesn’t appeal the decision, it must pay KWG’s costs to fight the application at the tribunal, which sat for seve ra l days in February, expenses estimated by Lavigne at $1 million.

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