Canadian Press reported on Thursday that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to talk about how they could work together on the chromite mining project about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, which is considered to be one of the largest such deposits in North America.
"We need to put a road up there, we need to extend electricity transmission up there, we need to invest the skills and training levels of our First Nations communities," McGuinty said. "This is a big project, we can't do it on our own, so what I invited the prime minister to do is to give some thought as to how we might partner together with our First Nations communities to take every advantage of this new opportunity in our backyard."
Chromite is an essential ingredient in the production of stainless steel. Cliffs Natural Resources plans to invest $3.3 billion to develop a chromite mine, a transportation corridor and a $1.8-billion smelter near Sudbury. The project also has the potential for the production of copper, nickel and platinum.
With production at least three years away, Cliffs’ cost could rise substantially. "The costs have nearly tripled from their original estimate," said JP Morgan mining analyst Michael Gambardella, in an interview with Reuters. "There must be some additional volumes, whether it's in chromite, ferrochrome or other minerals that are up there, to offset the additional capital costs."
Juniors such as KWG Resources (TSX: V.KWG), Noront Resources (TSX: V.NOT), and Probe Mines (TSX: V.PRB) are all exploring chromite projects in the Ring of Fire.