![]() ![]() They are currently trying to find a buyer for their chromite assets in northern Ontario and although some of the other area explorers have expressed interest, Cliffs doesn’t seem optimistic that a buyer will be found. Last year, Cliffs decided to throw in the towel on the Ring of Fire after failing to reach agreements with key stakeholders including First Nations and the Ontario government. The biggest player in the area is Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. The area of most intense interest is less than 20km long.Ĭurrent companies and projects in the area include: Cliffs Resources (Black Thor, Black Label), Noront (Thunderbird, Eagle’s Nest and surrounding deposits), Probe Mines (Black Creek) and Freewest. Since then, about 30,000 mineral claims have been made by 35 companies over the 5000 sq km area. Six geologists and junior mining executives – Richard Nemis, Mac Watson, Frank Smeenk, Neil Novak, John Harvey and Don Hoy – are said to have collectively discovered the Ring of Fire deposits in 2007. Unfortunately, the Ring of Fire rocks only host trace amounts of PGM’s. The dark coloured chromite is a chromium-iron oxide and is typically associated with high temperature, deep-sourced rocks which may also host nickel, copper, vanadium and platinum group metals (PGMs). Some Ring of Fire Explorers Chromite in a rock sample. Some of the highest concentrations of chromite in the world occur within these sills below the nondescript swamps of northern Ontario. They formed as sills: tabular, flat-lying sheets of igneous rock intruded into existing layers in the crust. The rocks in this complex have a distinctive shape below the surface too. These rocks are low in silica but rich in iron and magnesium and are made of mostly olivine and other dark-coloured high temperature minerals, such as pyroxene. This belt is made up of dark-coloured, coarse-grained igneous rocks that are Precambrian in age, about 2,700 million years old. And yes, the geologist who named it was a Johnny Cash fan! Mapping and interpretation of geophysical surveys suggest that the belt wraps around the intrusion to form a distinctive semi-circular magnetic anomaly dubbed the “Ring of Fire”. ![]() This crescent shape is influenced by a huge intrusion of granite to the west. Chromite bearing rocks in the Ring of Fire are tabular sills – labelled as number 5 in the diagram above. The Ring of Fire chromite and nickel-copper-PGE deposits are found within the crescent-shaped McFaulds Lake greenstone belt. Aircraft provide the best access, however rail and hovercraft are being considered as ways to ship cargo in and out of these remote, swampy lowlands, to ports in James Bay 240km to the east. Drilling in the area has shown that these surface sediments can be up to 75m thick.Įxploring the area by foot or vehicle is impossible. These glacial sediments, together with peat bogs, lakes and rivers, dominate the landscape. The highest ‘peaks’ are eskers – long, sinuous mounds of sediment left behind by glaciers – up to 5m tall. There are no roads or power and the area is flat and boggy. The 5000 sq km, cresent-shaped Ring of Fire was discovered in 2007 in the James Bay lowlands of northern Ontario, about 540 km northeast of Thunder Bay.Įxploration here is not easy. (Source: Government of Ontario) Location, Access and Infrastructure ![]() The ring consists of high temperature chromite-rich rocks surrounding a large body of granite. Note the distinctive semi-circular shape. Location of the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario, Canada. The Ontario government estimates the Ring holds $50-billion in chromite and $10-billion in nickel, copper and other metals. But although chromite is used as a key ingredient for making stainless steel, development in the area has stalled in recent years due dropping commodity prices and a range of land access and development issues. Discovered relatively recently in 2007, the region has been hailed in the media as the economic equivalent of Alberta’s oil sands. The ‘Ring of Fire’ is a collection of rich greenstone-hosted chromite (Iron-Chromium Oxide) and nickel-copper-platinum group metal (PGM) deposits around McFaulds Lake in northern Ontario, Canada. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |