The City of Sault Ste. Marie confirms that Noront Resources Inc. has not received any permits or approvals for the proposed ferrochrome processing facility in the city.
In other words, the $1-billion project isn’t a for-sure thing, contrary to what some may have gleaned from a report on the growth of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing and its impact on job and real estate markets in northern Ontario cities published by a commercial real estate firm.
“In the coming years, Sault Ste. Marie will become home to Noront Resources’ ferrochrome production facility,” the report from Crescendo Equity proclaims. “This will be a $1-billion investment that will add thousands of jobs to the market. The facility is predicted to employ up to 500 persons directly and over 1,000 indirectly.”
The report, elements of which were published as sponsored content on SooToday in mid-March, links the ferrochrome plant to an anticipated demand from the electric vehicle market.
“Noront has committed to provincial and federal environmental assessment processes. It has not started either of them for the Sault Ste. Marie project,” said Tom Vair, deputy chief administrative officer of community development and enterprise services for the City of Sault Ste. Marie. “To our knowledge, Noront is focused on advancing the road to the Ring of Fire and, as they communicated at their open house on Oct. 23, 2019, very little will happen related to the FPF until the road project advances.”
“Noront certainly has not received any permits or approvals related to the FPF project.”
When the proposed ferrochrome processing facility project was announced in September 2019, stakeholders said the 99-year lease on the proposed site — a 100-hectare brownfield property located just west of existing Algoma Steel Inc. operations — is subject to a five-year environmental assessment and public engagement process.