Page 66 PHOT O W ebequie First Nation Ontario Photo by WCS Canada Cheryl Chetkiewicz W aiting f or F ir e t o Ignit e 20 Y ears A f t er By Frank Giorno Its been about 20 years since the area was named the Ring of Fire by Rich ard Nemis the founder of Noront Re sources after the Johnny Cash song Progress has been glacial and like watching the ocean hopes are boosted by the advancing tide but with every ebb of disappointment the faith in the project wavers Only to be boosted by the next high tide Recently there has been an increase of skepticism of the Ring of Fire Is the Ring of Fire really worth the ef fort Is there really anything of value to mine or is the expense of building an infrastructure worth it In the beginning ther e was Spider Resour ces The area known as the Ring of Fire came to the radar of junior explora tion companies like Spider Resources V eteran geologist Neil Novak found er of Spider Resources was very bull ish on the mining potentia l of the James Bay lowlands of Northern On tario Since inception the company concentrated its exploration eforts around a massive structure called the Ring of Fire which is an area cov ered by muskeg swamps Spider Resources initially searched for diamonds discovering eight kim berlite occurrences in the general area of the nearby DeBeers V ictor Diamond Mine The V ictor mine was established at a cost of 1 bill ion dol lars to mine diamondiferous kimber lite from an open pit that produces 27 mill ion tonnes of ore that recovers 600000 carats each year Spider Resources partnere d with KWG Resources TSXV KWG with substantial fnancial and joint venture support during this tantalizing search that refused to replicate the good for tune that fell upon DeBeers Clifs Resour ces steals the show and dr ops the ball As interest in the Ring of Fire peaked and with it drew the attention of US iron miner Clifs Resources of Cleve land Ohio Spider staked out wide swaths of land that was seized by Clifs Resources in what amounted to a hostile takeover just as Spider Resources was about to sign a mer ger agreement with KWG Resources Soon the Ring of Fire entered the On tario imagination and it was labelled as the biggest mining discovery in Ontario in decades T ony Clements then the federal minister for Natural Resources compared the impact the Ring of Fire could have in Ontario to the Alberta Oilsands The Challenges Then and Now The semicircl e shaped area is locat ed about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay There are no roads not even seasonal winter ice roads Nine Indigenous communities are in the area which is accessible only by air The closest provincial highway is hundreds of kilometres away from the southern extend near the Aroland First Nation There is no electricity from the Ontario Power Grid Most communities have standalone diesel powered generators to provide elec tricity The Need for a Road Constructing a road from Noront s Eagle s Nest nickel deposit and their nearby Black Thor chromate de posit has proved elusive for the last fve years The problem is that with out a road to the deep north through a very swampy stretch of unsettled land whatever potential that is in the ground in the form of nickel gold sil ver chromium and other mine rals and metals will be worthless Better road infrastructure in the north including allseason roads can reduce the cost of delivering consumer goods fuel and construction materials Roads also provide communities with bet ter access to primary health care and other services Marten Falls First Nation and W ebe quie First Nation are moving forward as proponents for Environment As sessments for their individual road projects Is the Ring of Fir e W orth It One Man Says Y es It Is As James Mungall the former chief geologist for Noront and now a pro fessor of economic geology at Car leton University phrased it in an ar ticle that appeared in the Sudbury Star January 242020 How much is the Contd on pg 68 Page 67