Chromite mine prospects stirring excitement

February 14, 2001 With the formal acquisition this week of one of the key chromite deposits among the remote Ring of Fire properties northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., Canada, U.S. iron-ore giant Cliffs Resources positioned itself as the most likely company to build the mine everyone‘s been talking about, The Chronicle Journal reports. But while the euphoria associated with the development of what could the largest chromite mine in the world is understandable, the company says many details still have to be hammered out.

"It‘s still very early in
the process," Cliffs Resources spokeswoman Christine Dresch said Friday from
the company‘s head office in Cleveland, Ohio.

Production at the future
mine 500 kilometers (3120 miles) northeast of Thunder Bay won‘t start until
2015 at the earliest, Dresch said. As well, key related projects like a
railroad and the location of a smelter have yet to be decided.

Still, Cliffs‘
acquisition Wednesday of some of the main chromite deposits from Toronto-based
junior Freewest bumped up the excitement level a considerable notch.

"There‘s still a ways to
go, but (Cliffs) definitely has the horses and the capability to do this
project," commented Thunder Bay-based Garry Clark, executive-director of the
Ontario Prospectors Association.

Dresch couldn‘t provide
specific numbers, but the operation is expected to create thousands of jobs in
direct and spin-off employment on remote First Nations and within the
Municipality of Greenstone and Thunder Bay.

Chromite is the main
ingredient in stainless steel. Ring of Fire is expected to make Cliffs, if it
follows through with its plans, the world‘s largest chromite exporter.

Serious exploration at
the Ring of Fire area began in 2002, when diamond magnet De Beers drilled there
and made significant copper and zinc discoveries.  Over the next five years, serious nickel and platinum
discoveries were made during a rush of drilling and staking activity.

Geologists say the chromite
deposit is so big it could be continuously mined for 100 years.  Just as important, the mine and all its
infrastructure could be the anchor for the development of other base-metal
deposits along the new railway, said Clark.