KWG remains hopeful for rail link

An idea for a 340-kilometre rail line for shipping chromite ore and other metals out of the Ring of Fire mining belt is picking up steam.

Toronto-based exploration company KWG Resources said earlier this week that a terms of reference for a feasibility study into the project could be established sometime next month.

The study is to be conducted by China Railway First Survey & Design Institute Group Co. Ltd., which over the past 60 years has overseen the construction of 48,000 kilometres of rail.

KWG earlier estimated that it would cost about $1.5 billion to build a Ring of Fire rail line. A rail line is believed to be cheaper in the long run than operating an all-weather road. The proposed rail line would run in a north-south direction from Nakina.

A separate study funded by the provincial and federal governments to determine the best route for an all-weather road is expected to be completed next spring.

Noront Resources has said it favours an east-west road that would connect its proposed Eagles Nest nickel mine with Pickle Lake.

The cost of building that route has been pegged at $500 million.

Before main Ring of Fire proponent Cliffs Natural Resources pulled out of the mining belt two years ago, it put the cost of building a north-south road at $600 million.

Cliffs had proposed to become the first company to mine Ring of Fire chromite, a main ingredient in stainless steel.

The provincial government had said it would be willing to pay half of the cost for Cliffs’ road.