Town of Wawa vies for piece of Ring of Fire pie

By SHIRLEY MILLS, SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Updated 5 hours ago

WAWA -- The community is pitching itself as a possible player in a major mining exploration project.

Mayor Linda Nowicki said the province has suggested a number of Northern points are being considered for processing facilities for the Ring of Fire, a major mining discovery 500 kilometers northeast of Thunder Bay.

Large deposits of chromite, as well as copper sulfide, diamonds, nickel, copper, platinum and palladium, have been found.

Six communities mentioned by Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Minister Michael Gravelle are Greenstone, Thunder Bay, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, while another site along the north shore of Lake Superior with a natural harbour is under consideration.

Nowicki sent a letter to the minister stating Wawa boasts a number of assets that could make it a contender:

* the developed Michipicoten Harbour;

* a significant brownfield site for a potential processing facility;

* First Nation and municipal ownership of the rail bed from Hawk Junction to the Michipicoten Harbour;

* access to the Algoma Central Railway at Hawk Junction, which provides a connection to the Canadian National Railway.

Mining company Noront Resources Ltd., announced in 2007 it had made a "large find" after drilling two holes, with one having copper sulfide mineralization and the other boasting similar results.

A few months later, Noront announced it had found diamond, nickel, copper, platinum, and palladium a few metres below the surface.

The region is centred on McFaulds Lake in the Kenora District, approximately 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, about 70 kilometres east of Webequie and due west of the Victor Diamond Mine, near the Attawapiskat River west of James Bay.

Last April, the province said it would open a large chromite deposit in the area to develop.

The project has not been without controversy.

Last January, Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations activists set up a blockade on the landing strips at Koper and McFaulds lakes, protesting what they argued was a lack of consultations by mining corporations.

Nowicki and council see the community becoming a potential hub for Ring of Fire.

"Our letter, in part, stated that while we all recognize the horrendous downturn in the economy in the Superior East Region for the past many years, we also see the potential of revitalizing that same economy through the opportunities that the Ring of Fire development could bring," said the mayor.

"To that end, I have asked Gravelle to give serious consideration to including Wawa as the unnamed sixth community, and have further asked that he assign staff from either Sault Ste. Marie or Thunder Bay to work with our region to make the development a reality."

In other news:

Al Suraci, CEO of Northern Credit Union, presented the municipality with a cheque for $5,000 toward to the new Wawa Goose monument.

Lori Johnson, director of community services, said the estimated amount needed to replace the current goose, standing since 1963, is $500,000.