Page 58 Page 58 MLEN SPRING 2020 Contd on pg 60 The long and winding By Frank Giorno The Ring of Fire is the most prom ising mineral development opportu nity in Ontario in over a century Located in Ontario s Far North current estimates suggest a multi generational potential of chromite production as well as signifcant production of nickel copper and platinum with an estimated value of 60 billion But before this vast untapped re source can be developed a number of issues must be resolved Among them the need for a transportation corridor to access the minerals in the ground The EastW est Ring of Fire Coali tion wants a road from the Ring of Fire to run westward to Pickle Lake where it would connect to the On tario Provincial highway system A road needed The EastW est Ring of Fire Road Coalition EWRFC contends that an eastwest road to the Ring of Fire is the best route for beneft ing the greatest number of Ontario communities providing allseason road access increasing the range of economic opportunities said V icki Blanchard the manager of economic development for Sioux Lookout The EWRFC was established to represent municipalities First Na tion communities and businesses in Northwestern Ontario supporting the building of an all year access road into the Far North and built up on the current success of First Na tion businesses in Sioux Lookout According to Blanchard the route would beneft 17 Indigenous Com munities Sioux Lookout is the hub for First Nation social services Blanchard explains It has an airport that sees 128000 passengers yearly The EastW est Ring of Fire Coali tion consists of the municipality of Sioux Lookout the First Nation communities of Lac Seul Cat Lake Slate Falls and Kitchenuhmaykoo sib Inninuwug and businesses such as Morgan Fuels and Perron Contracting The community has educational recreational health and commer cial activities to provide for a labour force from the area Blanchard points out that an East W est route would provide impor tant services to the Ring of Fire like Morgan Fuels a company with a long history of supplying the mining and forestry industries in Ontario s northwest The need for electric energy Bringing electricity to the Ring of Fire is as important need as build ing a road Hydro One is currently working to develop the W aasigan T ransmission Line a proposed new doublecircuit 230 kilovolt kV transmission line between Lakehead T ransformer Station TS in the Municipality of Shuniah and Mackenzie TS in the T own of Atikokan and a new singlecircuit 230 kV transmission line between Mackenzie TS and Dryden TS in the City of Dryden Hydro One is building the transmis sion line to service a host of mining and forestry activities in the region that play a key role in driving eco nomic growth in the northwest and in the communities who support them Building the W aasigan T ransmis sion Line will increase the amount of electricity that can fow through the system and provide local busi nesses and communities the elec tricity they need to grow W aasigan is a critical link in the expansion of the transmission network in north west and would be the closest source of electricity to the ring of fre In addition the W atay T ransmis sion Project will bring electricities to 17 remote communities north of Dryden This unprecedented Project is ma jorityowned by 24 First Nations in LtoR Bruce Sakakee p and Cecilia Begg from Big T rout Lake First Nation Mayor Doug Lawrance Municipality of Sioux Lookout Russell W esley former Chief of Cat Lake Darrell Morgan of Morgan Fuels and Ari Elo Cofounder of Northern Community Solutions Social Enterprises Inc and Liaison between Government of Finland and Sioux Lookout ON road to The Ring of Fire