Tramway plan to haul ore out of Ring of Fire could cost over $800M
The cost to haul ore out of Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire mineral zone could approach $1 billion, if one stakeholder’s plan comes to fruition.
KWG Resources Inc. and its subsidiary, Canada Chrome Corporation (CCC), recently released the results of an engineering and design services report from Rail-Veyor Technologies Inc.
The report estimates that the cost to build a tramway system to haul ore out of the company’s potential mine at the Company’s Black Horse Project in the Ring of Fire to a processing or transfer facility near Nakina, Ontario will be around $840 million.
The line would be able to haul 10 million tonnes of chromite yearly over the 338-kilometre route.
The proposal is one of several on the table. The Ontario government, for its part, says it supports a road link between the north and south.
Last March, Premier Doug Ford and Northern Development and Mines Minister Greg Rickford signed a partnership with Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations to develop the road project.
The Northern Road Link would link two other proposed roads – the 200-kilometre Marten Falls-to-Aroland Community Access Road at the south end, and the proposed 110-kilometre Webequie Supply Road to the Ring of Fire at the north end.
Both projects are currently under environmental assessment.
At least one First Nations group in the region says it will oppose the province’s road-development plan, however.
Neskantaga First Nation says the proposed road will cut through the core of its territory and cross the Attawapiskat River, which it described as the lifeblood of its culture and way of life.
KWG, meanwhile, is proceeding with a First Nations consultation and engagement process of its own.
The company is in discussion with newly-incorporated Gitchiziibii Company Inc., which has recently been formed to, among other things, assist with the creation of a trust for members of the Matawa and Mushkegowuk First Nations, and which would be endowed with the beneficial interests in infrastructure assets required for mining in the Ring of Fire.
The Gitchiziibii Company Inc., KWG and CCC are currently planning an application the proposed ore-haulage system as mining works under the Ontario Mining Act.
The application is a first step toward floating a bond issue for construction financing.
Featured image: An aerial view of an esker near Nakina, north of Geraldton, where the KWG rail line could be built.