The Globe and Mail: Ontario and two First Nations have agreed on terms of reference on an environmental assessment for the last of the three proposed roads into the Ring of Fire, a small step forward in the province’s ambitions to become a major player in electric vehicle minerals.

Webequie, Marten Falls, and the province made the announcement on Monday morning at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada mining conference in Toronto, one of the industry’s biggest marketing events.

Ontario had already agreed in 2021 on terms of reference for two other road environmental assessments connecting the provincial highway network to the Ring of Fire in the province’s far north. The last of the roads, called the Northern Link, would connect the Marten Falls First Nation to Webequie First Nation, and allow the operator of the Ring of Fire to transport mined nickel out of the region.

Any kind of progress, however minor, is welcomed in relation to the long-stalled Ring of Fire project. Discovered in 2006, the project has long been championed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford. He wants to develop the Ring of Fire in order to be able to feed future giga factories in Southern Ontario.

The province is already a manufacturing base for many of the world’s biggest automakers, and last year landed its first battery metals plant with Stellantis NV and LG Energy Solution announcing plans to build a giga factory in Windsor.

Complicating plans to develop the Ring of Fire is the morass of red tape that must be navigated before mining can begin. In addition to the EA on the Northern Link, there are five other provincial and federal environmental studies under way on roads into the Ring of Fire. Some are years behind schedule.

Ring of Fire Metals, the owner of the most promising assets in the minerals region, has expressed frustration at the slow pace of obtaining permits in Canada, especially compared to its base in Western Australia. There, mining projects have been put into production in as little as four years after being discovered.

The federal government last year acknowledged that in Canada it can take up to 25 years. Ottawa is working with the provinces to try to speed up the pace of mining development in Canada. Last week, Ontario announced plans to ease red tape regarding mine closure plans and allow easier access to obtain permits to mine minerals from tailings.

In addition, huge question marks remain over funding infrastructure into the Ring of Fire. While Ontario has committed close to $1-billion, the federal government is on the fence for another $1-billion that is needed.

National-security experts are concerned about the dominance of China in the production of many critical minerals. Relations between Canada and China have deteriorated in recent years, and The Globe and Mail has reported that Beijing attempted to influence the outcomes of the past two Canadian federal elections.

Ontario on Monday also announced $2.5-million in funding to companies working on innovative technologies in critical minerals. The recipients, who all received approximately $500,000, were Frontier Lithium Inc., Vale Canada Ltd., Ring of Fire Metals, EV Nickel Inc., and Indigenous-owned Carbonix Inc.

NIALL MCGEE, Mining Reporter

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