Justin Trudeau’s federal government hasn’t even issued its first budget yet. But Michael Gravelle said he’s already “very encouraged” it will play a strong role in growth and development of Ontario’s “Ring of Fire” mineral belt.
“I’m feeling very positive about the us government role coming forward with the Ring of fireside,” Gravelle, Ontario’s minister of northern development and mines, said within an interview.
Gravelle said he has a good working relationship with James Carr, the government natural resources minister, and expects to possess more discussions with him regarding the Ring of Fire now in the PDAC show.
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The Ring of fireside holds massive deposits of chromite along with other minerals, but it’s located in the remote James Bay Lowlands and requires major infrastructure (including roads) to become viable mining camp.
Ontario has dedicated to spending $1 billion on Ring of fireside infrastructure, and asked Ottawa to complete the same when Stephen Harper was pm. The Harper government was unwilling to achieve this until it saw some progress in key areas, including negotiations with impacted First Nations communities.
It isn’t any secret that the Trudeau government includes a better working relationship with Ontario than Harper’s did, and it has also dedicated to spending billions on infrastructure. Which has raised some hopes in Ontario it could invest in the Ring of Fire soon.
Gravelle spoke in an event on Sunday to mark the 125th anniversary of the Ontario Geological Survey, that has published a lot more than 10,000 geoscience maps.
