Massive Black Horse Chromite Discovery

Black Horse deposit has an Inferred Resource Now 85.9 Million Tonnes @ 34.5%

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Message: Minister may need to settle Ring of Fire access debate
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1. Did Justice Lederer say the OM&L Commission [an 'inferior" court] or was it your interpretation of the ruling?

Over time, the jurisdiction of the Mining and Lands Commissioner has been the subject of careful analysis by all levels of court. Notable cases include McLean Gold Mines and Re Munro and Downey. The question asking whether the Commissioner was acting as a superior court contrary to the British North America Act, 1867 was dealt with in the case of Dupont v. Inglis which came before the Supreme Court of Canada in 1958. That Court equated the Mining Commissioner with an “inferior court of review or appeal”. While the issues at every level focused primarily on the question of whether the Mining and Lands Commissioner was acting as a superior court, the courts hearing the appeals, in their approaches to the question, also posed another question as to whether the Mining Commissioner was a court or an administrative tribunal. In each instance, they found that the Commissioner was a court.


Lederer did not say an 'inferior" court, he only inferred it though an unreasoned decision, in my humble opinion.

2. Is it confirmed, in writing (at least on some e-mail) that "Ontario and Cliffs had already reached a tentative business agreement to develop a north south mining corridor together."? If so, all this should be available in the ruling.

Ontario's never makes it's private agreements with business public. Instead, one has to rely on pieces of information Ontario and business issues to the public through the press.

a) During Cliffs 2012 Analyst and Investor Day, July 31, 2012, Joseph Carrabba, CEO of Cliff's Natural Resources, confirmed that Ontario will pay for "part of the all-weather road" when asked from a reporter;

Q: Will the government help you build the road for Black Thor?

A: Yes. They are. They've accepted the infrastructure part of this. It's going to be, not only a road to open up the Black Thor deposit and the Ring of Fire but it's also going to help all of the affected communities in the remotes part of Northern to put an all-weather road.

Q: So, they will pay for part of the road?

A: Yes, they will.

Q: Will they pay for anything else in infrastructure?

A: No and we haven't asked them to pay for anything else, so we're in negotiations on that and until we get them settled, going to have to leave it right there, yes, the governements of Ontario, Labrador and Quebec have been incredibly helpful in all the business plans we have going forward.



b) September 05, 2012 Noront Releases Positive Feasibility Study for Eagle's Nest Project

Wes Hanson, CEO of Noront states: "The decision of the Province of Ontario to financially support the north-south road corridor pending certain approvals is a very positive development in unlocking the mineral wealth of the Ring of Fire. Our discussions with the Province have confirmed that the all-season road will be accessible to all industrial users including Cliffs and that the costs to use the road will be based on proportional usage, a critical consideration for Noront as our concentrate shipments represent less than seven percent of the currently identified ore haulage along the corridor."

ALL-SEASON ROAD ACCESS:

In a letter dated August 10, 2012, Ontario's Ministry of Northern Development and Mines ("MNDM") advised Noront that the Province was in early stage discussions with Cliffs Natural Resources regarding a north - south all-season road that would connect the Ring of Fire to existing provincial infrastructure. The letter confirmed the Province's intent to contribute financially to develop the proposed all-season road subject to various environmental, regulatory and financial approvals.

MNDM advised Noront that "the current expectation is that the all-season road would be made available for use by industrial users other than Cliffs, with access fees generally based on proportional road usage, although specific terms are still to be determined."

Details on the estimated capital costs of the proposed north-south road have not been provided to Noront. However, Cliffs has publically stated that the cost of their proposed integrated transportation system is budgeted at $600 million. This cost is consistent with previous work completed by Noront on this alternative and was used as the basis to establish road usage costs in the feasibility study.

In developing the DCF model for the project, Noront has assumed that concentrate shipments from site and supply shipments to site would be subject to a toll charge. On a proportional usage basis, Noront estimates that concentrate shipments represent less than seven percent of the total ore haulage along the road corridor. The Feasibility Study has assumed a toll representing 12.5% of the total road cost which includes capital, interest and maintenance costs.



BLACKBIRD CHROMITE FACT SHEET
**Includes transportation plus $15 million annual charge for toll road, power based on 5.5 cents Cdn per kWh

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