Annual General Meeting - Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce

The Ring of Fire chromite deposit hopes to set fire to Northern Ontario’s economy over the next few years and long into the future. Last night, the Chamber of Commerce’s Annual General Meeting, held at the Valhalla Inn, featured keynote speaker Frank Smeenk, CEO and President of KWG Resources and Canada Chrome Corporation, and Moe Lavigne, Vice President of Mining and Exploration.

The Business Meeting of the AGM had excellent attendance where members gathered to listen to Chamber President Harold Wilson and Immediate Past Chair Lisa Sticca speak on 2009’s year of change and the bright outlook for 2010. Retiring Directors, Brian Babcock and Rod McLean were honoured for their services to the Chamber of Commerce.

Following the Business Meeting, over 250 attendees flooded into the ballroom for the symposium where they enjoyed a lively session of networking before the evening’s program began. Ms. Lisa Sticca welcomed numerous delegates including our city Mayor and mayors from abroad, city councillors, First Nations chiefs, Honourary members, past Chairs of the Board as well as current Chamber board members and staff. The evening also graciously hosted visitors from outside of the Thunder Bay community, including those from Toronto, Greenstone, Nipigon and First Nations communities. Ms. Sticca presented three Chair of the Board awards. Dave Farrell, Barry Radtke and Ian McCormack were recognized for their various contributions to the Chamber of Commerce.

These awards are given out, by the discretion of the Chair of the Board to volunteers who were exceptionally active. Mr. Craig Urquhart was sworn in as the 2010 Chair of the Board by Doug Murray, Director of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Urquhart also honoured Ms. Sticca and presented her with both a plaque and a pin as she moved into her new position as Immediate Past Chair.

This event was proudly presented by TBAYtel. Mr. Don Campbell spoke on behalf of TBAYtel and discussed the economic and financial contributions that their company has made directly to our local community. This includes their unwavering support of Chamber activities for which we are entirely grateful. We would also like to thank our event supporters Bearskin Airlines, the Chronicle Journal, Intercity Industrial Supply and Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission.

Keynote Speaker Frank Smeenk and Moe Lavigne provided a highly detailed and statistical overview of the Ring of Fire location also known as the “Big Daddy”. Their presentation emphasized the impact of the valuable resources found north of Nakina, less than 5 hours away from Thunder Bay. Moe Lavigne spoke primarily on the composite of the Ring of Fire including chromium, nickel, copper/ zinc, and stated that even diamonds and gold are present. Mr. Smeenk informed that this area is a largely untouched resource and expects that it has over billions of dollars in expenditures which will in turn drastically boost Northern Ontario’s economy and Thunder Bay’s in particular. This boost will include the creation of innumerable job positions and the eventual construction of an extended railway slated to be nearly 350 KM in length. So far, KWG Resources has begun drilling in the Ring of Fire to define the deposit and has performed both metalogical and baseline environmental studies. KWG hopes to move forward in community based regional land planning, financing, ownership and corporate structure and has a particular focus on business partnerships and cooperative consultations with First Nation communities who are within this region. The cultivation of the Ring of Fire will turn Thunder Bay and its northern neighbours into the “mining highway,” due to, as Mr. Smeenk noted “location, location, location”.