“What the appeals court is saying is that you can’t hold mineral development hostage, in a sense, by staking up the access routes and holding them,” said Alan Coutts, chief executive of Noront Resources Ltd., which owns vast chromite assets in the Ring of Fire.

Noront is in no rush to develop a north-south road because the company is currently working on an east-west route to access its Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper deposit in the Ring. But once Noront or other mining companies get serious about developing the big chromite deposits in the region, the north-south route will be crucial.

Coutts noted that the Ontario government could go ahead and develop a north-south road now if it wants. Queen’s Park has committed to spending $1 billion on Ring of Fire infrastructure, and has asked the federal government to do the same.

“This does open up possibilities for the provincial government’s infrastructure plans,” he said.

http://business.financialpost.com/news/mining/ontario-court-ruling-opens-up-potential-road-access-to-ring-of-fire-mineral-belt