Ring of Fire junior miner, KWG Resources, is refloating the concept of using the Ontario Northland Railway (ONR) to haul ore out of the Ring of Fire in the James Bay region.
In a Sept. 16 news release, the Toronto-based company said it supports the “New Deal” business plan being proposed by the unions at the Crown-operated transportation agency.
According to KWG, a new agency should be established, governed by the First Nations and other regional stakeholders with federal oversight.
This agency would finance the railroad's construction and continuing operations of the ONR by providing rail service “at cost” to the mining companies operating in the remote Far North camp.
KWG is the holder of the only staked corridor out of the region. The company said it will make its right-of-way available for ONR use.
“We believe the railway is in the public interest and can be used to benefit the various mines in the Ring of Fire,” said KWG president Frank Smeenk, "as well as local communities and is a much better alternative to a private road, a higher-cost transportation option, which the government was currently considering funding.”
KWG recently won an Ontario Mining and Lands Commissioner decision over Cliffs Natural Resources on the right-of-way access issue. Cliffs was seeking a road easement on KWG's string of mining claims into the Ring of Fire.
The ONR is currently in operational limbo while the province and a stakeholders advisory group meet to decide the railway and the Ontario Northland Transportation Corporation's future.
