Not brothers and sisters,

You have got to hand it to Cliffs, they certainly are cranking up the heat on the government to fund the road and extend a massive subsidy for power. Mr. Boor (of CLF) does make some convincing points. Copied below is Sud Star article from today.

Black Thor could be a 'catalyst': Cliffs

By CAROL MULLIGAN THE SUDBURY STAR

It remains to be seen whether Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources will select a site near Capreol to build a ferrochrome processing plant for chromite ore from the Ring of Fire.

If it does, Bill Boor, president of Cliffs ferroalloy division, says there is much more benefit for Ontarians than just the 1,300 or so jobs that would be created if his company develops even part of its Black Thor deposit in the Ring of Fire.

There is enough chromite in that part of the Black Thor to process for 30 years, but "the Ring of Fire has potentially a lot more than just chromite to develop," said Boor in an interview Monday from Cleveland.

"We know there are countless exploration companies up there looking for diamonds and nickel and copper and PGMs, platinum group (metals), and none of those projects could ever justify the infrastructure that we're talking about," he said.

Cliffs is in discussion with several ministries of the Government of Ontario about building an all-weather road from the Ring of Fire to Nakina more than 300 kilometres away where it would meet up with CN Rail.

Boor said the Cliffs project at Black Thor "can be a catalyst to get the right infrastructure in place, then there's more development up there and more jobs than what we talked about."

Boor said he is not being critical of the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty, but "I think the government needs to look at this as provincial infrastructure to be competitive in that mining district."

His company is working to locate a "transportation corridor and a ferrochrome processing facility where this is going to be such a long-term development for us, that we want it to be somewhere where we can operate in the up cycles and the down cycles."

Boor said the perception is that industry "is just out to keep the money and, of course, that's part of our job, to maximize our returns."

But it is in Ontario's interest "that the jobs are secured for the long haul," he said.

When his company moves to further develop the Black Thor and two other sites it owns or partially owns, the employment will be "multigenerational. It's a long time."

Frank Smeenk is president of KWG Resources Inc., which owns about 30% of the Big Daddy, one of three main deposits in the Ring of Fire. The remaining 70% is owned by Cliffs.

Smeenk says every dollar of new "foreign capital investment might ripple out to $15 to $25 of economic activity ...

"Therefore, the $2 billion to $3 billion that may ultimately be invested in this new enterprise can be expected to add markedly to the size of Ontario's economy."

Developing these Canadian chromite deposits, said Smeenk, "will change the world of chrome extraction, production and consumption, and bring additional prosperity to Canada and Ontario -first by bringing some to the First Nations up there. More mines will also be found in those areas."

Note that Mr.Boor eluded to "countless exploration companies" that couldn't justify the expense..........now he's lumping NOT in with the rest?? What a diss! Where is the feasiblity study from Cliffs, Mr.Boor? Is it out yet, hmm ?....no

Let's see now .......... road + cheap power = feasible. Study complete.

Best regards,

mynot