At this time, there is no approved railroad right of way. The locations and coordination of all of the infrastructure corridors (road, railroad, hydro power, etc.) are all still under consideration and discussion by all parties. It is fairly certain that they will all come to pass. However, everyone is jockeying for the compromise that will provide the maximum overall benefit for themselves. This includes the mining companies, government of Ontario, and the communities (both First Nation and non First Nation). This is necessarily complicated and time consuming and will play out at its own pace... but play out it will.

As Kareema said earlier, there will not be separate infrastructure corridors for separate parties. All will be built in a coordinated fashion to the benefit of the entire Ring of Fire. This is the historical norm in Canadian resource development and in any case, multiple corridors (fiscally inefficient as well as more damaging to the landscape) would be unnacceptable from both a cost and an environmental assessment perspective.

Further to this, it should be noted that there is not a choice to be made between having a road or a railroad. Both are necessary in order to make all of this happen. Typically, it is the road that is developed first so that everyone has access to bring in all of the materials, equipment and manpower required to build the other infrastructure. In the case of the Ring of Fire, we also have the need to provide all season access to the remote communities in the area. This has been a long sought goal for the province and the communities. Again, this means that the road will be the first thing that is developed. This is just the normal, logical process of resource development in remote areas whether it is for forestry, oil&gas or mining.

RHammer