A text by Stéphany Laperrière
KWG Resources, which holds mineral rights on several deposits in the Ring of Fire, hoped to find investors in China for the project .
But his vice-president, Maurice Lavigne, explains that the company has failed to find potential buyers.
We tried to meet representatives of stainless steel foundries and it did not work.
Maurice Lavigne, Vice President, KWG Resources
Mr. Lavigne added that the support of the federal government would have been necessary to facilitate these meetings.
"National politics is involved in what we do and it does not necessarily take place at the speed we want. If the Ring of Fire had been on the table of discussions between China and Canada, it would have encouraged the meetings we need to have, "he said.
Construction of the railway
During his stay, the delegation nevertheless met representatives of China Railway, the Chinese company specializing in the design of railways.
Engineers and geologists from China Railway have already visited the Cercle de feu region .
They presented the results of their study on the construction of a railway line to transport the chromite extracted from the Cercle of fire , says Maurice Lavigne.
"What we have learned in China is that the railroad wants to build that with a capacity of 10 million tons a year and possibly 24 million tons a year," he said.
KWG Resources interprets these figures as an indication of the volume of chromite that China wants to buy to meet its needs, Lavigne adds.
This is a positive sign, and the mining is already planning its next trip to China.
The Cercle of Fire is located about 540 km north of Thunder Bay and about 240 km west of James Bay. Photo: Noront Resource