Fort William First Nation, Thunder Bay host joint open house on proposed ferrochrome facility

Fort William First Nation and its northwestern Ontario neighbour, the City of Thunder Bay, will host the second of two public informationsessions Wednesday night about their joint proposal to be the site for the Noront Resources ferrochrome production facility.

"We believe that the material mined in Northwestern Ontario should be processed in Northwestern Ontario to its maximum value added state," Doug Murray, the CEO of Thunder Bay's Community Economic Development Commission, stated in a release Tuesday.

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The plant, which may need as many as 800 people to construct and 300 to operate, would process chromite ore from the Ring of Fire.

The smelter has the potential to create many different kinds of industrial service and supply spin-off opportunities, says Edmond Collins, the manager of economic development for the First Nation.

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"Not only that but it's going to bring people back to the city of Thunder Bay and/or Fort William First Nation, again with jobs you're going to need people, with people there's going to be economic growth, with economic growth you're going to see more grocery stores, more clothing stores being built up," he said.

Ferrochrome, which is not currently produced in North America, is a key component in the production of stainless steel, a commodity growing at 5 per centannually, the written release stated.

"Stainless steel runs our lives right now. We have it in our kitchens. We have it in our taps. We have it in the operating rooms in the hospital," said Collins.

According to Collins, about 30 people attended Monday night's open house in Fort William First Nation.

'Educate yourself' and 'let us know'

They discussed a number of issues, he said, including how the smelter might affect the environment.

Finland has been processing ferrochrome for a number of years and Timo Haimi, a senior process mettallurgist with Outotec shared his country's experience in reducing pollution fromits production.

Collins admitted it could be up to a decade or more before the ferrochrome facility is actually processing raw materials, but he said it's still important that people have their questions answered now.

"Educate yourself on what we're looking for, and if this isn't what you want within the city of Thunder Bay and Fort William First Nation, let us know. Let us know what you want. This is a great opportunity for people to speak up and get some background on the project, and go from there," he said.

Submissions deadline is Feb. 2

Wednesday's open house runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Valhalla Inn in Thunder Bay.

The four-city competition is between Thunder Bay/Fort William First Nation, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Timmins, withFeb. 2, 2018 as the deadline for submissions.