Regardless of process, a company looking to setup shop in the ring of fire wants to hear concerns from the public before going ahead.
Cliffs Natural Resources, which is looking to start a 30 year chromite mine near McFauld’s Lake, held an open house Monday at the Valhalla Inn to get public input on the project.
The federal government recently decided to put the project through a comprehensive environmental assessment. Matawa First Nations has requested a judicial review of that decision, asking for a joint panel assessment instead.
Bill Boor, Cliffs vice-president of global ferroalloys, said the company will be able to satisfy most people through the faster comprehensive assessment.
“I’m not as concerned about panel versus comprehensive. I’m more confident that we can address people’s environmental concerns through a good process,” Boor said.
A small ballroom at the hotel was filling up fast just after the 4 p.m. open house start time. Boor said he expects a lot of interest in the project.
“This is a major project It’s going to affect a lot of areas and a lot of people”, he said. “We want to do it in the right way and there’s no better way to accomplish that than to listen to people that are going to be in the area that we’re going to operate in.”
Another reason for the open house was to show people the project itself, which includes a ferrochrome processing facility expected to bring up to 500 jobs. While the company’s base case for that facility is near Sudbury, Boor said no decision has been made.
A delegation from Thunder Bay, including mayor Keith Hobbs and Fort William First Nation leaders, is heading to Cliff’s headquarters in Cleveland later this week to ask that Thunder Bay be considered for the facility.
“The decision hasn’t been made so we continue to talk to cities,” Boor said. “We want to be careful about such an important decision so we’re taking our time.”
Dave Morellato came to the open house because he wanted to learn more about the project. He said he didn’t have any concerns about the project as long as the law was followed with regard to the environment.
“I think it will be very good for northern Ontario,” he said.
Elizabeth Ladouceur said she went to the meeting because of the economic impact the project might have on the area. She didn’t want to miss an opportunity to learn more about it
“Mining is going to explode beyond people’s expectations,” she said. “This is a very important moment as far as I’m concerned.”
While she didn’t have any specific concerns, Ladourceur said it’s up to the public to study up on what projects in the ring of fire can mean for the region.
“So you really understand what’s going on.”
