A court ruling that opens up a prized overland route to the Ring of Fire was greeted with a shrug of the shoulders by Noront Resources, the leading mine developer in the remote exploration camp.
Though pleased with an Ontario appeals court decision that lifts KWG Resources’ exclusive hold on a vital north-south path of high ground into the James Bay lowlands, Noront president Al Coutts responded his company is more intent on driving a road from the west to reach their nickel deposit.
But it’s great to have options, he said.
“It doesn’t really impact our plans going forward because we’re focusing on that east-west corridor of development and the Eagle’s Nest deposit.”
Noront inherited the court case when it picked up some high-grade chromite properties from Cliffs Natural Resources last April as the struggling Ohio mining giant was departing Ontario.
Mining chromite is not very high on Noront’s to-do list. Its cornerstone project is its Eagle’s Nest nickel, copper, platinum and palladium deposit.
Noront has tabled a proposal for a 280-kilometre-long road, following the winter road network, extending east from Pickle Lake rather than use the 340-kilometre-long northerly route that KWG staked using mining claims.
KWG’s route was a controversial one, resulting in two years of litigation when Cliffs was denied permission by KWG to use that route for its own access route.
The two companies became acrimonious business partners in the Big Daddy chromite deposit when Cliffs had eyes on developing its Black Thor deposit first.
On Feb. 24, an Ontario appeals court upheld a divisional court ruling from last summer allowing other mine project developers to apply for an easement without requiring consent of the claim holder, KWG Resources.
It’s now on the shoulders of Natural Resources Minister Bill Mauro to decide such matters.
While the appeals court ruling probably doesn’t jumpstart development in the Ring, it does set precedent on project developers using Crown land and surface rights for a corridor that could potentially block other development.
“It provides some assurance that if we do need to have access to the high ground in the north-south corridor for future chromite development, that option is open to us,” said Coutts.
It also opens the door for the province to use that north-south corridor should they wish to create a broader network to run roads into the remote First Nation communities, he said.
“It makes things more clear,” said Coutts. “The province, should they wish to develop roads – (with) (with) talk of a broader network of roads to communities – it allows them to potentially use that corridor as well.
“It doesn’t have an impact (on us), but it’s just good to clear it up.”
Probe Metals, owners of the Black Creek chromite deposit between Big Daddy and Black Thor, declined to comment.
