Possible road financing requirements $500M ??

- hard to copy complete tables, sorry

Peter

4.10-1 summarizes the key facts of each alternative.

Table 4.10—1 Key Facts - All-Season Road Alternatives

Component North-South Alternative East-West Alternative

Total Length of road construction (km) 3201

282

Total number of water crossings 1002

913

Number of major river crossings

Ogoki River

Albany River

Attawapiskat River

None

Number of communities potentially

serviced 0 4

Comment on available aggregate for road

construction

Greater potential availability of

aggregate, due to presence of

esker deposits. In some

locations this esker material

may not be suitable for top

coat of road, which will

increase costs.

Reduced availability of

aggregate relative to

alternative. This will lead to

higher aggregate costs.

Existing winter or all-season roads to

support construction (km) 60 km of existing forestry road 200 km of existing winter road

Construction through wetland Similar to other alternative Similar to other alternative

Impact on caribou habitat

Much of road alignment is

through areas deemed good

habitat for caribou. Eskers

are preferred habitat for

wildlife mammals in the

wetland.

Much of the road passes

through fewer areas deemed

good caribou habitat and

follows an existing linear

disturbance (winter road).

Relative cost

Expected to be higher than

the alternative, due to greater

number of major water

crossings. These costs are

partially offset by a shorter

overall distance of new road

construction and relative

greater availability of

aggregate.

Expected to be lower than

other alternative, due to fewer

major bridges.

Provincial waterway parks intersected

Ogoki River, Albany River and

Otoskwin/Attawapiskat River

Provincial Parks.

None

Relative First Nation support

Chief of Neskantaga First

Nation has been outspoken

against this option.

Several First Nations support

this alternative; no major

opposition has been recorded.

NOTES:

1. THE 320 KM NORTH-SOUTH ROUTE WAS PROPOSED BY CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES AND INCLUDES

260 KM OF NEW ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND THE UPGRADING OF 60 KM OF EXISTING FORESTRY ROADS.

2. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF WATER CROSSINGS ON THE NORTH-SOUTH ROUTE INCLUDES APPROXIMATELY

50 CONTINUOUSLY FLOW WATERCOURSES AND 50 WETLAND AREAS (CLIFFS, 2012).

3. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF WATER CROSSINGS ON THE EAST-WEST ROUTE BASED ON FIELD INVESTIGATION.

The general alignments of the east-west transportation corridor and north-south transportation

corridor alternatives are shown on Figure 4.10-1.

4.10.4 Economic Viability of All-Season Road Alternatives

The initial desktop study of road routing alternatives (SNC-Lavalin, 2010) provided comparable

capital costs for the construction of an all-season road on the east-west and north-south corridors.

The results of this study suggested that both alternatives would be economically viable. A feasibility

level capital budget estimate for the construction of an east-west all-season road from the Pickle

Lake North Road to the mine site was developed based on preliminary engineering and quantities,

geotechnical input, constructability and logistics (Nuna Logistics, 2012b). The capital budget

estimates did not integrate information from field geotechnical investigations to confirm aggregate

and borrow source locations, and subsurface conditions along the road or at proposed bridge

locations. The capital budget estimate for the construction of an east-west road was $437,882,020

(+25 % / -10 %) and was considered to be economically viable.

A rail vs. road trade-off study was completed for KWG Resources Ltd., Canada Chrome Corporation

in 2013 (Tetra Tech, 2013). The report provided an economic trade-off study for a rail and road

option along a 330 km north-south alignment from Nakina to near the mine site. The study

concluded that the road was the preferred option. The direct and non-direct capital costs for thconstruction of an all-season north-south road were estimated to be $1,050,000,000. The lower

estimated cost of constructing an east-west road is preferred.