The City of Thunder Bay and its economic development commission are taking home two awards for its mining presentation at the 4th annual North American Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum in Denver, Colo.

The event was held Oct. 15 to 17.

The Ring of Fire and Northwestern Ontario Mineral Deposits win the prestigious Strategic Project of the Year and the Job Creation Project of the Year Awards.

Steve Demmings, CEO of the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission, and John Mason, mining services project manager, attended the event to bring wider exposure that northwestern Ontario is one of the mine production and exploration “hot spots” in Canada.

Thunder Bay's submission of the potential of $80-billion string of between nine and 13 mine projects in northwestern Ontario was good enough beat out four other projects nominated for the Strategic Project award.

The forum regularly attracts more than 500 executives from the public and private sector. It showcases cities, states and provinces with its various innovative infrastructure plans.

Other award nominations came from the Michigan Department of Transportation's $2.1-billion new International Trade Crossing, Los Angeles Metro's $10-billion Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor, the Indiana Department of Transportation's $2.6-billion Ohio River Bridges-East End Crossing, and Denver's Regional Transportation's District's $450-million North Metro Commuter Rail.

The Job Creation Project of the Year award is for projects that will create the greatest number of jobs and businesses over the lifetime of a development. The award tabulates direct, indirect and induces job creation over a 20 to 30-year span. A jury of forum sponsors pick the top projects.