"However, the route currently taking shape is a 340-kilometre north-south road that would begin at, or near, Nakina on the CN line and end at McFaulds Lake. Bruce Hodgman, vice-president of communications with KWG Resources, says his company has staked a ridge of sand and coarser aggregates that happen to run almost the full distance from the CN line to McFaulds Lake. The company, which is the minority owner in the Big Daddy project, has spent some $15 million on engineering studies that demonstrate the viability of using the material as a railway bed. The provincial government has already expressed its commitment to help pay for the private pay-for-use road.

“It’s almost perfectly north-south,” says Hodgman. “It’s just luck that this very direct route exists. You need aggregate to build a road, and you need local sources because it isn’t economical to ship aggregate. It’s swamp on either side of the ridge.”

Even with all that aggregate, construction will still be a challenge. There are more than 90 water crossings along the north-west route. While most of these crossings can be channelled through culverts, there are four rivers to be crossed, and several bridges will have to be built.

And the physical difficulty of creating the transportation corridor is being exacerbated by a tense relationship between Big Daddy partners KWG Resources Inc. and Cliffs. Cliffs has applied to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources for easements that would allow it to build a road along the ridge, but KWG is opposing the application with the provincial mining and lands commissioner. KWG is instead pushing for a railway that would cost an estimated $2.2 billion, arguing it would be the best long-term infrastructure solution. “A road is a logical first step,” says Cliffs’ Persico. She adds that “long term we would like to see rail infrastructure into the Ring of Fire; however, the cost is prohibitive, and can’t be justified by one project.”

To be sure, KWG will do anything it can to get Bid Daddy off the ground as soon as possible. “At the end of the day,” says Hodgman, “we think there’s a solution that satisfies all stakeholders.” But Cliffs plans to mine its 100-per-cent-owned Black Thor deposit first. And they have developed plans for two open pit operations, each with a life span of 10 years to 15 years, before going underground. Meanwhile, the Big Daddy project would sit."

When I say that our boys are on the path of war... It sure ain't over yet! More to come...Cliffs beware!!! GLTA.

http://www.cim.org/en/Publications-and-Technical-Resources/Publications/CIM-Magazine/November-2012/feature/The-quest-for-fire.aspx