Sudbury City to make pitch for chromite plant on Monday

2011-09-26

Sep. 23, 2011 - The fact Sudbury is a global mining centre is one of the compelling reasons Cliffs Natural Resources should build a chromite processing plant and the 400 to 500 jobs it would create in the city.
That's the pitch Mayor Marianne Matichuk and city staff will make when they meet with Cliffs officials on Monday.
"Cliffs is looking at places to establish its smelting operation," Matichuk said in a release Friday. "To me, there is only one place; here in Greater Sudbury.
"If Cliffs decides to build in Ontario, we want Greater Sudbury to be the only choice for them."
Earlier this year, Cliffs, a Cleveland-based mining company, looked at different places for the ferrochrome production facility and announced a Sudbury location, Moose Mountain, north of Capreol, as the benchmark site.
It doesn't mean the facility will be built there, Cliffs said. Instead, it would use the Moose Mountain location to test the feasibility of a chromite plant.
The smelter would refine ore and concentrate into ferrochrome metal in enclosed electric arc furnaces. At full capacity, the ferrochrome production facility would produce 1,500 tonnes of ferrochrome per day.
It would also create up to 500 jobs.
According to media reports, in all, Cliffs expects to employ as many as 950 people during construction and 1,300 once the operation is in full gear - 300 to 500 at the mine; 200 to 300 for the transportation system needed to move people, ore, machinery and supplies; and 400 to 500 at a plant where chromite will be processed into ferrochrome, used for shiny components of cars and appliances, and for lining steel-making furnaces.
Cliffs, however, has warned the Ontario's high electricity prices could make building a plant anywhere in Ontario a problem.
In 2010, Cliffs acquired the largest known chromite deposit in North America, located in so-called Ring of Fire area of northwestern Ontario. Ore would be shipped from the chromite deposit to the plant.
City of Greater Sudbury officials said their goal is to focus on Greater Sudbury's competitive advantages as a global mining centre.
Over the past year, city officials said they have been meeting with decision-makers from all major companies involved in the Ring of Fire development, as well as the provincial government.
A report has been drafted to show Cliffs the benefits in bringing this important project to the Greater Sudbury area, the city said in its release.
"Greater Sudbury is committed to pursuing every available opportunity to demonstrate that it is the best location for processing ores mined in the Ring of Fire area," the city said in its release. "City officials have sought advice from some of the top experts in the field and appreciate the strong support and co-operation received from the local mining industry."
Scott Lund, chair of Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, echoed that statement.
"We are aggressively marketing Sudbury as an economic engine and as the world's expert in the mining and supply industry," Lund said.
"Attracting Ring of Fire businesses such as Cliffs will allow us to become a more competitive, commercial and industrial rallying point in northeastern Ontario."