Page 70 at this stage whether it was in SSM Sudbury T immins or Thunder Bay But as opposition grows in Sault Ste Marie Mayor Geor ge Pirie of T im mins keeps raising the welcome mat reminding Noront that they are al ways welcome to change their minds and go to T immins where there al ready is a permitted property for the smelter and residents ready to give them a loving hug of welcome The Markets The market still plays a role in the vi ability of the entire project once all the pieces of the puzzles are lined up Chromate from the Ring of Fire was originally earmarked China the big gest manufact urer of stainle ss steel in the world But the continuing trade dispute betwee n China and the US could force the US to secure its own stainlesssteel supply The chromate from the ring of fre could be destined south to the US instead of overseas to China Government Help or Hindrance The Liberal governments under Dal ton McGuinty and Kathleen W ynne ushered in a Ring of Fire Secretariat in 201 1 that was to expedite the talks with First Nations some of whom supported the projected and others who opposed it based on benefts that would accrue to them Negotiations between government and First Nations developed a framework agreement or a broad outline for proceeding to fnal negotiations but not a fnal agreement could be negotiated That framework agreement was scrapped by the Doug Ford government in August 2019 who favours signing agreements with in dividual First Nations in the hopes of moving the project forward Ford and his government are also committed to tearing up the Mc Guinty government s Far North Act hoping to reduce red tape and restric tions on important economic develop ment projects in the Far North includ ing the Ring of Fire allseason roads and ele ctrical transmission projects for communities W e have heard time and again that the Act limits development in the Far North of Ontario where there is so much potential for economic growth and prosperity said John Y akabuski Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry That s why we are moving quickly with the intention of building a path forward that supports business cer tainty while continuing to work close ly with First Nations communities at an advanced stage of planning T ime frame for opening up the Ring of Fir e If the economic assessment and de sign work is completed and the deci sion is to move forward with the proj ect it will be in the ballpark of about two years before the Environmental Assessment is started The Ring of Fire represents a major economic opportunity to create jobs generate revenue build infrastructure and bring prosperity to communities across the north including First Na tion communities Ontario is working directly with First Nation partners through bilateral agreements Agreements between On tario and First Nations partners sup port individual communities unique needs and priorities for development This will help build the necessary in frastructure to unlock the incredible potential of mineral resources in the Ring of Fire for the beneft of First Nations and all people in Ontario Contd from pg 68 Ontario working dir ectly with First Nation partners thr ough bilateral agr eements Page 71 B y K e vin V inc ent W hen the w or d pr ospec t or is ut t er ed it c onjur es up the image of a lonely sno w shoe w ear ing dishev eled soul w ander ing wha t appears t o be aimlessly thr ough a dense nor ther n f or est Y et he is an ything but aimless T her e is a singular it y of pur pose A nd the last plac e y ou migh t e xpec t tha t w ander ing soul t o appear is a t the big bo y s table the sea t of political or c or por a t e po w er T he On tar io P r ospec t ors A ssocia tion is no str anger t o the la tt er nor is it an y one s w allfo w er T he OP A is not only a t the table it is mak ing its v oic e hear d as par t of the pr o vincially appoin t ed M ining W or k ing Gr oup tha t includes some of the titans of On tar io mining like T on y M ak uch of K ir k land Lake G old T he W or k ing Gr oup w as established in 2019 b y Ener gy Nor ther n D ev el opmen t and M ines and I ndigenous A fairs M inist er Gr eg R ickf or d OP A Ex ecutiv e Dir ec t or G ar r y Clar k sits on the g r oup and the v oic e of the pr ospec t or is car r ying as much w eigh t as the lof tiest of CEO s I t is cr itical y our R ickf or d s staf c ompr ehends the mining sequenc e and the timelines associa t ed with miner al disc o v er y t o pr oduc tion said Clar k in an open lett er t o M inis t er R ickf or d who chairs the g r oup T he c omponen ts t o disc o v er an ec onomic deposit ar e c omplica t ed and getting t o pr oduc tion can take y ears Clar k deliv er ed his c ommen ts t o R ickf or d shor tly af t er the w or k ing g r oup s frst meeting in 2019 t elling him tha t the OP A w as impr essed b y the g r oup s br oad cr osssec tion of members Clar k outlined fv e r ec ommenda tions as f ollo w s O n tario P r osp ec t ors mak ing v oic e hear d on pr o vincial w or k ing gr oup 1 T he plans and per mits sy st em r e quir e an o v er haul t o allo w a mor e e xpedit ed pr oc ess T he pot en tial is t o str eamline the sy st em t o allo w a c er tain lev el of e xplor a tion tha t is k no wn t o oc cur tha t does not r e quir e plans or per mits T hese lev els c ould be on a notifca tion basis t o F irst Na tion C ommunities T he r e quir emen t is tha t an understanding b y the C ommunities of the basic M ining S equenc e Ear ly e xplor a tion has minimal f ootpr in ts on the land scape 2 A det er mina tion of the F irst Na tion C ommunities T r aditional Lands needs t o be illustr a t ed allo wing e x plor ers t o k no w who they w ould need t o c onsult with pr ior t o claim ac quisition T his is a mapping e x er cise tha t w ould r equir e in t er ac tion of v ar ious F irst Na tion C ommunities 3 A s pr ojec ts pr og r ess t o w ar d pr o duc tion c ompanies need t o ha v e stabilit y of which F irst Na tion C om munities they need t o dev elop r ela tionships T he need f or k no wledge of ef ec t ed C ommunities should ha v e a cut of poin t Ha ving t o c on sult with 2 C ommunities a t the ear ly stages and ending up with 12 a t pr o duc tion isn t f easible 4 Suppor t of the P r ospec t ors and Ju nior C ompanies is r equir ed t o plac e On tar io on the same lev el as other P r o vinc es C ompar able fo w thr ough r a t es w ould assist as w ell as a r eba t e sy st em f or e xplor a tion Explor ers in other P r o vinc es enjo y a r efund on e xplor a tion T he r ec en t Junior Explo r a tion A ssistanc e P r og r am funded b y NOHFC w as an e x tr eme suc c ess with 61 pr ojec ts funded b y the 41 million with c ompanies sta ting they in t end t o spend an additional 42 million 5 G eoscienc e funding f or the On tar io G eolog ical Sur v ey P ar t of the r eason tha t On tar io w as the 1 ju r isdic tion in the past w as the qual it y and cur r en t na tur e of the geosci enc e da ta T he R ain y R iv er D eposit is a r esult of qualit y geoscienc e S ome of the memb ers of the O n tario W or k ing G r oup include R enaud A dams Pr esident CEO N e w Gold C ar ol Banducci Ex ec utiv e VPCFO IAMGOLD M ar c Boissonneault H ead of Global Nick el A ssets Glencor e John Bur z ynsk i Pr esidentCEO D ir ec t or OSISK O G arr y C lark Ex ec utiv e D ir ec t orC hair O ntario Pr ospec t ors A ssocia tion Alan C outts Pr esidentCEO N or ont D aniella D imitr o v P ar tner S pr ott C a tharine F arr o w D ir ec t or F ranco N e v ada J P Gladu Pr esidentCEO C anadian C ouncil f or Aboriginal Business C hris H odgson Pr esident O ntario Mining A ssocia tion Ja y C K ellerman P ar tner S tik eman E lliott LLP T on y M ak uch Pr esidentCEO K irkland L ak e Gold John Mullal y V ice Pr esident C orpora t e A fairs and Ener gy N e wmont Goldcorp Mik e McC ann H ead of Mining and Milling N or th A tlantic O pera tions V ale M ar vin P elletier Ex ec utiv e V ice Pr esi dent and C hief De v elopment O fcer C arbonix and Pr esident M aa w andoon Inc F r ed R Plet cher P ar tner Bor den L adner Ger v ais LLP S t ephen R oman Pr esidentCEO Har t e Gold Gr eg R ickf or d C hair Minist er of Ener gy N or th ern De v elopment and Mines T he OP A is no w gear ing up f or its Explor a tion F inds M ines Sho w case 2020 A pr il 78 in T hunder Ba y I n addition the OP A has thr o wn its suppor t behind the S a v e C anadian M ining initia tiv e see ar ticle else wher e in this edition of M ining Lif e tha t is enc our ag ing the On tar io go v er nmen t t o r ev erse har mful in v est men t r egula tions tha t ha v e made junior mining c ompanies the tar get or shor t sellers on v ar ious st ock mar kets