Peter Hinz, Team Lead - Exploration and Mineral Development - Ring of Fire Secretariat had the full attention of Dryden Rotarians and their guests from City Council and the Dryden Economic Development Corporation as he described the development of the most important mineral find in Ontario’s history.
 
Using lots of maps and slides Hinz provided an overview of the Ring of Fire from its earliest days in 2001 to the present.
 
The Ring of Fire is the name given to a massive planned chromite mining and smeltering development project in the mineral-rich James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario. It was named when the first significant mineral finds were made in the region, by Richard Nemis of Noront Resources, who named it after Johnny Cash's famous country and western ballad of the same name.
Location in Northwestern Ontario
By 2012, there were 30,000 claims, 35 prospecting companies, and significant discoveries of chromium, copper, zinc, nickel, platinum, vanadium and gold.
Chromite drill cords
 
It began with only two major development proposals, Noront Resources's Eagle's Nest Project and Cliffs Natural Resources. KWG Resources became the third major player and entered into a joint venture agreement with Bold Ventures on its $5 million Koper Lake Project
In 2013, the Province announced the intention to facilitate the creation of a new development corporation hoping to bring together First Nations, industry, as well as Provincial and Federal governments.
The exploration landscape: wet, flat and remote
 
In April 2014, the Provincial government announced it was prepared to commit up to $1 Billion to develop strategic all season industrial and community transportation infrastructure and challenged the Federal government to commit the same.
 

Additional Resources:

 
Two papers from KWG Resources
 
 
Ontario Geological Survey : Open File Report 6269 Preliminary Results from the McFaulds Lake
(“Ring of Fire”) Area Lake Sediment  Geochemistry Pilot Study,  Northern Ontario  2012
 
Eagle’s Nest: A Magmatic Ni-Sulfide Deposit in the  James Bay Lowlands, Ontario, Canada
 
Present and Future Geophysical Methods for Ni-Cu-PGE Exploration:  Lessons from McFaulds Lake, Northern Ontario
 
McFaulds Lake  (“Ring of Fire”)  Mineral Exploration and  Development Overview
 
TECHNICAL REPORT  ON THE  UPDATED MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE  FOR THE BLACKBIRD CHROME DEPOSITS  MCFAULDS LAKE PROPERTY  JAMES BAY LOWLANDS  ONTARIO, CANADA
 
Two excellent blogs
http://anorthernblog.wordpress.com/tag/ring-of-fire/
 
http://ringoffirenews.wordpress.com/