KWG Resources has released a study that it commissioned from Tetra Tech WEI Inc. to compare the capital and operating costs of both a railroad and an all-weather road to the Ring of Fire (IM, January 2013, pp12-18). The study estimates the capital costs for a roadway at C$1.052 billion and a railroad at C$1.561 billion. If 3 Mt/y are shipped, operating costs are estimated at C$10.50/t for the railroad and C$60.78/t for trucking on the road. If 5 Mt/y are shipped, it is estimated that those operating costs per tonne would be reduced to C$6.33 for rail and C$59.28 for trucking. Map courtesy of the Sudbury Star.

According to the Ontario Government, “The Ring of Fire is one of the most promising mineral development opportunities in Ontario in almost a century. Located in Ontario’s Far North, current estimates suggest the multi-generational potential of chromite production, as well as significant production of nickel, copper and platinum.”

The complete study has been posted on the KWG website: www.kwgresources.com and should be read in its entirety to understand the assumptions made by the authors of the study in order to derive the foregoing conclusions.

KWG has a 30% interest in the Big Daddy chromite deposit and the right to earn 80% of the Black Horse chromite where resources are being defined in a drilling program this winter. KWG also owns 100% of Canada Chrome Corp which has staked claims and conducted a C$15 million surveying and soil testing program for the engineering and construction of a railroad to the Ring of Fire from Exton, Ontario.