Cliffs Natural Resources is having doubts about its involvement in the Ring of Fire.
In the wake of the Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner's decision to deny the Ohio miner a road easement over the mining claims of KWG Resources to access its Far North chromite properties, the company said the development of the entire camp is threatened.
In a Sept. 20 statement, the company maintains it disagrees with the decision and adds that unpatented mining claims by its rival, KWG Resources, is “not an appropriate use of mining claims under Ontario's Mining Act.”
“While we are open to possible solutions,” said Bill Boor, senior vice-president of global ferroalloys, “without a pathway developing quickly to overcome this major setback, it is going to be difficult for us to justify continuing with the project at this point in time.”
Cliffs sees “no conflict” between the uses of a mining claimholder and the company's concept of a road which would benefit the entire region.
KWG wants to build a railroad on its mining claims to haul chromite ore out of the Ring of Fire, while Cliffs favours a permanent road. Cliffs' project proposal involves a ferrochrome processing facility north of Sudbury in the community of Capreol.
