A group of First Nations leaders have drawn a line in the Ring of Fire sand.
Marten Falls Chief Eli Moonias says if companies want to mine the lucrative ore deposits found there, they’ll have to process it in Exton, Ont., not Sudbury.
On the weekend the leaders met in Greenstone and, together with regional mayors including Thunder Bay’s Keith Hobbs, signed a solidarity agreement supporting Exton as the preferred site of a ferrochrome processing facility.
The group also agreed they want the transportation route from the mine to run north-south through Marten Falls.
“We were always of the mind that whatever First Nations dictated we were going to support First Nations to move them forward to get them their infrastructure, their power,” Hobbs said. “Thunder Bay has always been in a position that if Thunder Bay didn’t get (the processor) then Greenstone is our next site.”
With more than 800 Megawatts of potential power between Wawa and Kenora, Hobbs said the north-south corridor could bring power to many northern First Nations communities that currently rely on diesel generators. The provincial government spent $100 million shipping diesel to those communities last year he added.
“The government talks about a green economy and greening up the province of Ontario yet they’re going to let diesel run the power (for Ring of Fire mines”,” he said.
Signees to the agreement included Marten Falls First Nation, Aroland First Nation, Bingwi Neyaashi Anishnabeek First Nation, Constance Lake First Nation, Animiigoo Zaagi'igan Anishinabeek First Nation and Red Rock Indian Band.
In addition to Hobbs, regional communities signing off included Greenstone, Hearst and Nipigon.
Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins is also expected to ink his name to the agreement in the coming days.
“The companies want to come in and exploit the resources and leave nothing behind for local long standing benefits such as electric grid connection and roads access – both a boost to the local economy.
By proposing to use diesel generators at the mine, Cliffs (Natural Resources) and Noront signal they are not interested in helping with infrastructure development nor will they support the smelter in a new location – to avoid environmental accounting they want to consider any new location,” said Marten Falls First Nation Chief Eli Moonias in a statement released early Tuesday morning.
Aroland First Nation Chief Sonny Gagnon said the processor must be built where the minerals are mined.
“If the smelter’s up in Subdury then we’re looking at trains go by again like we did with wood,” he said.
Getting infrastructure built and jobs in the region will be key to untapping the full potential of the Ring of Fire he said.
“I don’t want to just see a big hole in the ground.”
Hobbs agreed saying the minerals should stay in the region.
“Sudbury wouldn’t be very happy if Thunder Bay or Greenstone were processing the minerals from the Sudbury basin why would we process minerals from our backyard in Sudbury,” he said.
Earlier this month the U.S.-based Cliffs indicated it would continue to use Sudbury as its base case for the project, expected to create up to 500 direct jobs in the processing plant alone.
Moonias, whose traditional land the Ring of Fire resides in, said they have several demands before the project should go ahead, mostly power-related.
“We want infrastructure out of the development, a new power line will do this. We have a company interested in studying this project in partnership with the communities. The province should support this for environmental reasons over diesel, the federal government should support this long range outlook - grid connection will eliminate costly community diesel generation systems,” Moonias said.
“What we ask of Cliffs and Noront is to provide the opportunity to study this regional initiative until the final decision on the access corridor, smelter location and power supply is addressed, and that there is satisfaction from all parties that no alternative exists to what the companies are proposing."
