Ring of Fire player says federal budget will helphttps://www.thesudburystar.com/2016/03/29/ring-of-fire-player-says-federal-budget-will-help
Officials with KWG Resources said they are pleased the federal government allocated money in last week's budget that will help develop the Ring of Fire.
KWG agrees with the Mining Association of Canada, which said the budget addressed several issues the association had raised. They include:
- Investments in key regulatory agencies, such as the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, that will help ensure sufficient capacity to carry out efficient regulatory reviews of major mining projects.
- Funding to support Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency's capacity to undertake meaningful consultations with indigenous groups.
- New, long overdue investment in Natural Resources Canada's science laboratories that will support new partnerships in clean tech and innovation with the mining sector.
- Support for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.
- Renewal of the mineral exploration tax credit at a critical time for Canada's junior exploration sector.
KWG, meanwhile, said it is moving is moving ahead with its intent to seek a patent for processing chromite ore into metallics using natural gas, a carbon reductant and a catalyst formulation.
Applying for the patent involves filing what's called a national phase under the Patent Co-operation Treaty. Those applications have been filed Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the United States.
KWG will be seeking a patient for its invention in each of these countries where the method might have commercial application and viability.
Natural Resources Canada's CanMet research facilities are engaged in a program to analyze the opportunities for development of the Ring of Fire. As part of its research, the KWG direct reduction method will be evaluated for its economic efficacy and potential contribution to greenhouse gas reduction, say company officials.
KWG management participates in supervision of the CanMet research with membership in both the steering committee and the technical committee respectively, developing and overseeing the research programs.
A study presented to the 2015 Conference of Metallurgists concluded the potential for this process "to completely revolutionize the global ferrochrome industry should not be underestimated. Its impact reaches far beyond exploitation of a regional natural resource," KWG Resources said in a news release.
KWG has a 30 per cent interest in the Big Daddy chromite deposit and the right to earn 80 per cent of the Black Horse chromite deposit where resources are being defined. KWG also owns 100 per cent of Canada Chrome Corporation, which has staked claims and conducted a surveying and soil testing program, originally for the engineering and construction of a railroad to the Ring of Fire from Aroland.
KWG has acquired intellectual property interests including the method for direct reduction of chromite to metalized iron and chrome using natural gas. It is prosecuting patent applications for both the direct reduction method and for a method of producing high purity chromium metal by continuous smelting.
The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada also applauded the federal government for taking steps in its budget to support sustainable development of Canada's mineral resources and committing to investing in aboriginal communities.
It approves of the renewal of the mineral exploration tax credit until March 2017 and the commitment to ensure costs associated with environmental studies and community consultation are considered Canadian exploration expenses or CEEs.
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