THUNDER BAY -- Noront Resources says it has received bids from four northern Ontario centres—as expected—wanting to host a ferrochrome smelter for ore from the Ring of Fire.
The deadline for submissions was Friday, February 2.
Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie all submitted applications.
Thunder Bay presented a joint bid with the Fort William First Nation.
The Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission has projected that a processor, required to prepare chromite for the manufacturing of stainless steel, would ultimately create nearly 500 new jobs in the area.
Chromite would be trucked to the city from the Nakina/Aroland area, a shorter shipping distance than would be required for a smelter located in any of the other competing centres.
In an announcement Monday, Noront said it has hired Hatch, an Ontario-based engineering and consulting firm, to help it adjudicate the bids.
Next steps include calculating capital and operating costs and reviewing them alongside community and First Nations support, site appropriateness, environmental factors, access to a skilled workforce, and other elements.
Near the end of the analysis period, Noront said, it will hold talks with the owners of the favoured site "to come to a mutually agreeable commercial arrangement" for the use of the property.
The company estimates that the review process will take three to four months to complete. A public announcement of the decision will be made at that time.
Noront has said it expects to begin constructing a mine at its Eagle's Nest nickel-copper-platinum group metals deposit starting in 2020, followed by construction at a chromite deposit.
Last year the Ontario government announced it would move ahead with construction of an all-weather access road to the Ring of Fire, connected to the provincial highway system, with work expected to start in 2019.
