City still has sights on ferrochrome plant
Timmins officials not deterred by Noront announcement to accept Sault's bid as the site for a proposed ferrochrome processing facility.
Timmins Mayor George Pirie chats with Christy Marinig, chief executive officer of Timmins Economic Development Corporation, moments before the start of a press held at the TEDC boardroom Tuesday afternoon in response Noront Resources decision to locate its ferrochrome processing facility in Sault Ste. Marie. RON GRECH/THE DAILY PRESS jpg, TD
Timmins officials not deterred by Noront announcement to accept Sault's bid as the site for a proposed ferrochrome processing facility.
Timmins officials are not giving up hope.
In light of Tuesday’s announcement by Noront Resources in favour of Sault Ste. Marie as the location for its ferrochrome processing facility, Timmins officials vow to continue to press a case for locating the smelter here.
Timmins’ hopes rest on a likelihood that when it comes time to start construction, Noront, a junior mining company, may not be the one calling the shots.
“We believe that there is lots of time to affect this decision simply because Noront will not be the company that builds this facility,” said Mayor George Pirie, who hosted a press conference in the boardroom of the Timmins Economic Development Corporation Tuesday afternoon. “They will need a partner with far deeper pockets and Glencore (which owns the Kidd metallurgical site) would be an example of a partner like that, although there are others.
“So it gives us time to continue to affect the decision.”
In its announcement, Noront said it hoped to begin construction of the new plant by the second quarter of 2025.
“Their announcement said 2025 but we know they’ve got to build a nickel mine first before they begin to access the chromite deposit,” said Pirie. “We know the MOUs (memorandums of understanding with First Nations) haven’t been signed with the Indigenous people. And we do not believe they’ve got the environmental permits in place to build a ferrochrome facility on the shores of the Great Lakes.”
Pirie believes this buys Timmins some time to hold discussions “with the parties that we feel we have the most likelihood of affecting that decision with.”
He said Noront will “have to bring other partners to the table to build it. They won’t be the builder of it. It’s too big of a project for a junior company for any of us around the table to assume that they’ll have the financial wherewithal and pockets to build it.”
Pirie remains confident the Timmins site remains the best choice.
“It’s a very, very good location. It’s a brownfield location. It fits all of the criteria for the bid. It was the site of a Kidd Creek smelter that exported product around the world.
“We’ve got the rail connections that allow us to get to Montreal and ports of Montreal and ports of Quebec as well as down to the mid States. This location provides a great deal of flexibility to reach all markets in the world.”
Pirie noted that Ontario Northland was one of the partners in Timmins’ bid for the ferrochrome processing plant and “we had the support of all the Indigenous communities in our region on this bid, including the NAN (Nisnhawbe Aski Nation).”
While Noront conceded the Timmins location was the “slightly lower capital cost option,” the company viewed the Sault Ste. Marie option as offering lower operating costs.
Pirie said operating costs can be managed.
“In my background and my experience, if there is one thing you can continually work on to improve is operating costs,” he said. “So we’re still in the game and from my point of view we’ll continue to work hard, to affect this decision with the eventual partner that we think will build this.
“We don’t think that it’s cause for dismay.”
Pirie said Noront’s decision is a “disappointment — but there’s lots of work to be done.”
Noront Resources sent out a request for responses in 2017 for a location to set up its ferrochrome processing facility. At that time, the City of Timmins and the Timmins Economic Development Corporation worked with a number of partners to submit a bid for the facility. Assistance was provided by Glencore, Porcupine Engineering Services, Ontario Northland, and the Timmins Chamber of Commerce.
Throughout 2018, city and economic development officials continued to meet with and lobby Noront Resources to locate the smelter in Timmins at the Glencore metallurgical site.
The city, in a release issued on Tuesday, stated, “Staff would like to take the opportunity to thank our partners in this process – the Timmins Economic Development Corporation, Ontario Northland, the Timmins Chamber of Commerce, Porcupine Engineering and the hundreds of residents who wrote letters of support for the ‘Bring the Ring’ campaign. Glencore also did a great deal of work to prepare the Noront team on the benefits of locating at the Timmins metallurgical site, and we thank them for their professionalism and assistance.”