Environmental approvals for Ring of Fire mine running into difficulty

OTTAWA – Environmental approvals for the development of the massive Ring of Fire mining project in remote northern Ontario are running into difficulty.

A key environmental group has joined First Nations in asking for provincial government mediation on how Cliffs Natural Resources plans to develop a giant chromite deposit in the fragile muskeg of the James Bay lowlands.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society says Cliffs is changing its plans for a mine without properly consulting with the public.

The environmental protection group’s request for mediation echoes concerns made last month by the Neskantaga First Nation, one of the bands located near the Ring of Fire.

And last week, a Federal Court judge chastised the federal government and the mining company for dragging out a legal challenge of the federal environmental assessment process, ordering them to comply with a new, tighter schedule.

Cliffs is planning to invest more than $3 billion to build a mine and processing facility in northern Ontario — a project that has attracted the attention of not just environmentalists and First Nations, but also the federal and provincial governments.