Cities make a grab for the chromite ring: Ring of Fire developer Noront Resources receives community bid packages for smelter.

• Author: Ross, Ian

Feb. 2 was D-Day for four Northern Ontario cities to make their best pitch in vying for a Ring of Fire ferrochrome processing plant.

That was the deadline Noront Resources marked on the calendar for Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins and Thunder Bay-Fort William First Nation to deliver their case on why they should host the $1-billion mineral processing development.

The Toronto mine developer will spend the next few months assessing the comparative strengths and weaknesses of each city's bid.

Noront is the leading mining company in the James Bay lowlands. Their proposed ferrochrome smelter would process chromite from their deposits into ferrochrome, a major ingredient used in stainless steel production.

Leaders in each community were confident in their bid packages.

The City of Greater Sudbury is touting itself as the home of Ontario's only two base metal smelters and is showcasing its mining innovation and technical know-how.

"There's no question we're a smelter community," said Ian Wood, Greater Sudbury Development Corporation's economic development director, "and I think people understand that."

The municipality is promoting a Vale-owned brownfield property to Noront, located near a former INCO smelter site in Coniston on the city's east side.

"We know the property's available and that Vale does not have an alternate use for it, and would be interested in striking some form of deal."

Wood said the smelter was shuttered in 1972 but has all the turnkey infrastructure that Noront requires.

Zoned for heavy industrial use, the remaining buildings and two smokestacks on the partially demolished site wouldn't be of particular use to Noront. It's the property immediately to the south, populated by slag piles, that's the prime spot.

While Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay are promoting their active Great Lakes ports, Sudbury has an all-rail logistics solution.

Wood points to a major railway junction within a stone's throw of the site where Canadian Pacific-owned track crosses with Canadian National's transcontinental line, which is "key to Noront's plan for the Ring of Fire."

To prepare for their bid, Wood took part in a Sudbury delegation's trip to Tornio, Finland in January for a first-hand look at the Outokumpu Ferrochrome Production Facility.

The 50-year-old district-sized complex is considered a technologically and environmentally leading edge site.

While the scale is on par with Sudbury's, Wood said what resonated with him was his...