https://www.saultstar.com/news/local-news/access-to-ring-of-fire-top-priority-for-noront-work-continues-on-assessing-sault-and-timmins

Without a road, Noront Resources cannot access the minerals found in the Ring of Fire.

And that means moving forward too quickly on a processing facility is also not necessary.

So the silence surrounding any decision by Noront Resources as to whether Sault Ste. Marie or Timmins will be the eventual host of a ferrochrome processing facility is nothing to panic about.

Mayor Christian Provenzano says he, along with Tom Vair, the city’s deputy CEO of community development and enterprise and EDC’s Dan Hollingsworth met with Noront Resources officials in Toronto last Friday to get an update on their plans and offer any assistance

Noront is working with the province and at this stage, the decision on the road is critical for their next steps,” Provenzano said. “Once they receive some clarity from the province on the timeline, they’ll be in a better position to finish off their selection process.”

Ultimately, the facility Noront builds will be conditional upon the infrastructure built to the Ring of Fire.

While the public may not see or hear a lot of action in the forefront from either the Noront or their elected officials, it doesn’t mean work isn’t being done behind the scenes.

Provenzano said he was told that Noront is continuing to work with the provincial government and all indications were that they are confident in the process.

The provincial government needs to make a decision on how access will be achieved to the remote site and determine how their project will proceed.

Sault MPP Ross Romano said the province is reviewing the work completed by the previous government and building relationships with the stakeholders to determine how to move process.

“There has been 11 years of discussions under the previous government. We’ve only been in power six months and we are taking a realistic approach to the matter,” he said in an interview. “Some of the work completed we can refer to while in other parts we need to start the conversation again,” he said.

Romano wouldn’t provide specific detail of the conversation but did suggest that the province’s April budget may provide a better sense of timing as to when a decision may be reached.

In the meantime, Noront Resources is continuing negotiations with Algoma Steel Inc. and Gencore Inc. Kidd Mine to help them determine which location would be the best to build a ferrochrome processing plant.

The term sheets developed from each location will be the last piece of the puzzle plugged into the community submissions. All the information gathered will be weighed by Noront Resources and analyzed to reach a final decision.

“We will continue to keep in touch with Noront, we continue to offer our services and stay engaged and are here if they need us,” Provenzano said.

A ferrochrome facility would process chromite from the Ring of Fire. Chromite is then used to make stainless steel.

Ferrochrome is created with iron, chrome and oxygen. The high-grade chromite ore extracted from the Ring of Fire area is ground and processed with high levels of energy to melt the ore and add carbon to separate the oxygen from the iron and chrome.

The completed iron and chrome product is called ferrochrome. It is used in most household stainless steel products.

Noront Resources anticipate the final product would be exported to the industrial regions in the northeast United States, such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, to make stainless steel. Currently companies get their ferrochrome from South Africa and Kazakhstan.