Thunder Bay will benefit from promised Ring of Fire road, says Noront Resources president

Thunder Bay, Ont., can expect to benefit as a hub for mining activity in northwestern Ontario, now that there's a deal in place to construct road access into the Ring of Fire, a mineral-rich area in the province's far north.

• Ontario pledges 'support' for year-round road access to 3 remote First Nations, Ring of Fire

• Noront signs exploration agreement with Marten Falls First Nation

• Noront Resources waits for road to the Ring of Fire

The province announced on Monday that it has reached a deal with three First Nations in proximity to the Ring of Fire — Webequie, Nibinamik and Marten Falls — to facilitate all-season road access into the region and connect the communities to Ontario's highway system.

The absence of a year-round road to the region has been a key reason why little mining activity has actually taken place.

"Noront already has an office in Thunder Bay.  It's where we service our site from," said Alan Coutts, the president and chief executive officer of the mining company. "We envision having, when we go into production, regular flights to the mine site from Thunder Bay and hiring from the local community."

Going into production is still a ways off, even with Monday's announcement, Coutts said. Assuming environmental assessments are completed without issue, construction on the proposed road isn't scheduled to begin until 2019. Coutts estimated the Eagle's Nest site could begin shipping mineral concentrates in five years.

Even though the minerals expected to be mined from that location would be processed in Sudbury — Coutts said the northeastern Ontario city already has two existing nickel smelters — Thunder Bay will play a role.

"A lot of the support vehicles, trucking services, a lot of the goods and supplies will come through Thunder Bay," he said.

• Noront Resources to make decision on Ring of Fire smelter by end of year

As far as planned, subsequent mining efforts for chromite go, Coutts said the company expects to make a decision by the end of the year about where the necessary processing facility for the mineral will go.

The company has narrowed its field down to Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Thunder Bay.

"The chromite, we're very excited about, because, I mean, we'd like to do that quickly on the heels of the Eagle's Nest development," he said. "Get Eagle's Nest up and running, get cash flows from that project that would help us finance the first chromite mines."