Page 91 Opened since November 2017 New Gold s Rainy River Mine situated 50 km northwest of Fort Frances has 42 million oz of proven gold reserves and 12 mil lion proven reserves of silver In Red Lake Ontario 180 km north of Dryden Ontario and 100 km from the Manitoba Border Newmont Goldcorp opera tes the Red Lake and Campbell Mines in an area that has produced 29 million oz of gold since 1949 Its Musselwhite Mine located 500 km north of Thunder Bay has 185 mil lion oz of proven gold reserves Located northwest of Thunder Bay North American Palladium s Lac des Iles Mine is the world s only pure play palladium mining operation The future of mining in Northwest ern Ontario looks bright indeed The Ontario Mining Association 2019 Mining Directory lists 16 ad vanced mining projects in North western Ontario That s the phase just prior to full scale production Of the 15 advanced projects 10 are gold mining projects These projects inclu de Rubicon Gold s Phoenix Project Newmont Gold s Couchenour Project and New Gold s Madsen Project in the Red Lake District Greenstone Mining s Hardrock Mining Project near Ger aldton T reasury Metals Goliath Project near Dryden Ontario There are two lithium mining proj ects among the advanced stage projects two platinum group met als PGM one copper and one graphite Beyond that is the vast mineral po tential of the Ring of Fire located 540 km northeast of Thunder Bay consisting of nickel copper gold diamonds and more While it has taken time to get things rolling the Ring of Fire has the potential to bring benefts to Ontario s north for generations to come Some have described it as Ontario s oilsands Underpinning the extensive ex ploration and mining industry in Northwestern Ontario are 500 mining service and supply compa nies in Thunder Bay Mining activities have resulted in the signing of benefts agree ments between operating mines and First Nations that provide jobs and other economic benef ts to In digenous peoples of Northwestern Ontario In addition to mining forestry continues to play a major role in Northwestern Ontario a region that has the largest tracts of forest in Ontario and it sustainin g wood products manufacturing industries includes businesses such as saw mills composite mills and struc tural board and lumber plants pro ducing construction materials and specialty wood products Pulp and paper mills are the largest types of plants for converting timber fbre to forest products This past summer in June 2019 a billboard was posted along High way 17 near Dryden Ontario to promote the importance of the for estry industry in Ontario The bill board under the It T akes a Forest public awareness initiative was posted in Northwestern Ontario by local sponsors including the Central Cana da SFI Implementa tion Committee CCSIC Domtar Inc Resolute Forest Products and Dryden Forest Management Company Ltd They joined Scott Jackson Director of Indigenous and Stakeholder Relation s from Forests Ontario at the billboard in celebration of the forest sector s key role in supporting the prov ince s economic social and envi ronmental well being In Ontario the forestry sector produced 155 billion in sales revenue in 2017 Pulp and Paper generated 83 billion in revenue 2015 Sawmills and other wood products had 4 billion in sales 2015 Industry wide the forestry sector Thunder Bay active in gold production Home to W orlds Only Pure Play Palladium Mining Operation Page 89