Greenstone poised for mining boom: March 25 - 26 expo expected to attract over 600 delegates.

• Author: Tollinsky, Norm
• Position: NEWS

The Municipality of Greenstone and the Greenstone Labour Market Group are holding a Grow Greenstone Expo March 25 and 26 at the Victoria Inn and Conference Centre in Thunder Bay to prepare for the coming mining boom in the Ring of Fire.

The event will bring together up to 600 government officials, representatives of mining companies, suppliers, First Nation communities and academic institutions across the North.

Formed in 2001, Greenstone is comprised of the former municipalities of Geraldton, Longlac, Nakina, Beardmore and several other communities along the Highway 11 corridor in northwestern Ontario.

Billing itself as the Gateway to the Ring of Fire, Greenstone lies approximately 350 kilometres south of two proposed mine development projects: Cliffs Natural Resources' Black Thor chromite property and Noront Resources' nickel, copper and PGM-rich Eagle's Nest project.

Greenstone's current population of approximately 4,900 is expected to double within the next five years and double again thereafter, according to Vicky Blanchard, the municipality's economic development officer and chair of the Greenstone Labour Market Working Group.

"The demand for workers will be significant with a projected cumulative hiring requirements over the next 10 years totalling approximately 7,000 workers," she noted.

The Grow Greenstone Expo will have three components: a business exchange modelled on an economic gardening approach, a procurement and investment forum, and a career fair for job seekers interested in exploring mining-related career opportunities.

Cliffs' $3-billion chromite project is currently undergoing an environmental assessment and is scheduled to go into production in 2016. It will include two open pits producing up to 12,000 tonnes of ore per day, a concentrator producing up to 7,200 tonnes of chromium concentrate per day and an integrated transportation system consisting of a load-out facility at the mine site and a 300-kilometre permanent all-season road to a transload facility at the CN rail line just west of Nakina.

Construction, which is scheduled to commence in 2014, will require up to 500 workers at the mine site and up to another 300 for the...