A former senior cabinet minister in the McGuinty government is lobbying for a northwestern Ontario community to land a Ring of Fire ferrochrome processing plant.
George Smitherman, a former provincial energy minister, has been hired by the rural municipality of Greenstone to promote the area as the site for an ore refinery to global miner Cliffs Natural Resources.
“I am excited to contribute to bringing economic stability to this region,” said Smitherman in a May 30 press release. “The made-in-Greenstone solution delivers important environmental benefits, as it will reduce the carbon impact caused by transporting a massive ore body long distances for processing.”
G & G Global Solutions, of which Smitherman is chairman, and Environmental Communications Options (ECO) have been retained by Greenstone.
Mayor Renald Beaulieu said locating the Ring of Fire smelter is vitally important to his municipality. “We have invested a great deal of time and effort in developing a response that will benefit our municipality, First Nations, Cliffs Natural Resources and the provincial and federal governments.”
Beaulieu said the contract with the consultants was issued after months of negotiations involving the province, First Nations and Cliffs.
“We have every faith that our consultants will be able to successfully communicate the strength of the made-in-Greenstone solution.”
Beaulieu said the business case for Greenstone is founded on First Nations co-operation in sharing the mineral wealth on their traditional territory and having value-added facilities located in the area where extraction occurs.
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