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Following feedback from Indigenous partners, Wyloo Metals is not actively pursuing nomination into Ontario’s One Project, One Process framework or Ottawa’s Major Projects Office.
The Ring of Fire deposit in northwestern Ontario was a prime candidate for government efforts to accelerate project permitting.
It appeared on federal potential “nation-building” projects and was at the heart of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s special economic zones legislation.
But the main developer in the region, Wyloo Metals, is opting out for now, choosing instead to focus on its relationship with Webequie, Marten Falls, and neighboring communities.
“At one point the federal government, through the Major Projects Office, was looking at perhaps putting the roads into that kind of department,” said Keren Yun, Wyloo Metals’ director of communications.
“But the feedback from First Nations was: We’ve been doing this work for seven years, we’re willing to do this, no need to designate [the project].”
Wyloo Metals is currently completing a feasibility study for the proposed Eagle’s Nest mine, and intends to continue doing advanced exploration work after that.
Meanwhile, Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations are pushing ahead with building the road network that will connect the deposit to the provincial highway system.
Wyloo Metals has said it could launch into production some 18 months after the road network is built.
Work on the Marten Falls Community Access Road and the proposed Webequie Supply Road could begin as early as this summer, as announced by Ford during the Prospectors and Developers Association (PDAC) conference in Toronto this week.
The First Nations are still figuring out the route for the Northern Road Link, which would connect the two proposed community access roads to the deposit.
Should all go according to plan, the road network could be complete by 2030.
The First Nations want Indigenous-led assessments, and this could be undermined by the provincial government’s apparent willingness to accelerate development in the region.
For proponents like Wyloo, being roped into special measures like the provincial Bill 5 or the federal Bill C-5 carries risks that could outweigh benefits, given these laws are being challenged in court.
At the Toronto mining conference, some companies expressed doubts about government efforts to put projects on the regulatory fast-track, citing among other things potential harm to relationships with First Nations that have taken years to build.
Asked if he still intended on using special economic zones in the Ring of Fire on Monday, Ford said “We don’t need it when you have great partners.”
It remains unclear why the legislation was needed in the first place, then, given that the “great partners” Ford cited have been at the table for years.
Eagle’s Nest is set to proceed without impact assessment, with a federal agency recently rejecting a request from Neskantaga First Nation to designate the project under the Act.
