Wyloo Metals would put proposed Sault ferrochrome plant under the microscope, if successful in bid for Noront Resources

The prospective Australian buyer for Noront Resources won't make any immediate shifts in strategy in the Far North mineral exploration camp should it acquire the Toronto junior mining company. But it will reassess the location of a proposed ferrochrome processing plant slated for Sault Ste. Marie as part of its own independent study.

The head of Wyloo Metals, the Perth-based mining company, is making it clear that the apple of its eye is the high-grade Eagle's Nest nickel deposit – the lead project in Noront's mine development pipeline – not so much its chromite prospects.

"The focus is on nickel," said Luca Giacovazzi in an interview with Northern Ontario Business.

The chromite potential in the Far North mineral belt, Giacovassi said, is viewed by Wyloo as more of a "longer term opportunity."

Privately held Wyloo, a subsidiary of Tattarang, one of Australia's largest private investment firms, is making a stab at acquiring all of the outstanding common shares of Noront, well beyond the 23 per cent share stake it currently holds as Noront’s largest shareholder.

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The company announced its intention in late May to make a $133-million all-cash bid for Toronto-based Noront, the lead mine developer in the remote James Bay region.

Owned by Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest, Wyloo brings the financial heft not associated with the Ring of Fire since Cliffs Natural Resources. The Ohio iron ore miner pulled out of Ontario in 2015, allowing junior miner Noront to scoop up its properties in a bargain basement deal.

Like many aspiring nickel miners, Wyloo is on the electric vehicle (EV) bandwagon.

The company's strategy is to invest and acquire 'green metal' projects, such as nickel sulphides, to feed the EV battery market and help decarbonize the global economy. They're searching worldwide to spend money on the next generation of mines, first in Western Australia and now in Canada. In January, Wyloo signed a joint venture with Orford Mining, a TSX-V-listed company, with plans to pick up the pace of exploration at the West Raglan nickel project in northern Quebec.

They view Noront's Eagle's Nest as one of the best undeveloped nickel sulphide deposits in the world, tentatively slated to start production in mid-2026, if the north-south access road begins construction next year.

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Wyloo hasn't made a formal offer yet for Noront. Ontario securities regulations prevent them from doing so until a valuation of Noront is done by an independent valuator. That'll take several weeks before it comes back for Noront's board of directors to review and make a recommendation to shareholders.

"We're sort of dictated by the Noront board's timelines," said Giacovazzi. "We'd love to make a formal bid straightaway but unfortunately we have to look out for the process."

A confident Andrew Forrest seems already past that stage, firing off an introductory letter last week to the leadership with the Matawa First Nations, expressing his willingness to work with them to advance the Ring of Fire's mineral potential.

Giacovazzi said it speaks to the open-minded and communicative way they want to operate in the James Bay region.

"We want to work really closely with the First Nations to try and develop this together."

Giacovazzi maintains Wyloo is a well-funded organization with a track record of delivering on projects in difficult environments.

Only days after making its intentions known, Wyloo rolled out its Future Metals Hub concept for Ontario, promising to spend millions to turn Noront's nickel project into a net-zero carbon mining operation that would utilize the latest technologies and best practices on site, and create a domestic battery-metals supply chain that includes the possibility of a nickel processing plant to making battery-grade material for electric vehicle manufacturers.

With abundant resources in the ground in the Far North, Giacovazzi mentioned: "Very little has been done over the years to actually develop it.

"You've got policymakers talking about producing electric vehicles in-country but then you've got this dynamic where you're producing nickel and sending it offshore (for processing) and then you're bringing it back to Canada to build batteries.

"There's a disconnect in that logic and that's the philosophy behind it. I think there's a lot of value-add to add to these resources within Canada, and that's what we wanted to try and portray."

Wyloo said it's prepared to spend $25 million on feasibility studies to create this supply chain and study the construction of a ferrochrome processing plant, which converts chromite into a semi-finished product for the stainless steel industry.

Noront selected Sault Ste. Marie in 2019 is its preferred location for a ferrochrome plant, settling on a brownfield site at Algoma Steel.

Giacovazzi said it would be "silly" to turf Noront's due diligence work and start from scratch.

"We'll definitely try to build on that. We have deep respect for (Noront CEO) Al (Coutts) and his team. They're very smart guys. We respect the work that's been done."