**CITY OF TIMMINS NEWS RELEASE**

 In light of yesterdays announcement by Noront Resources in favour of Sault Ste. Marie as the location for their ferrochrome facility, City of Timmins officials vow to continue to press our case for locating the smelter in Timmins with the eventual builders, whether it be Noront or a company such as Glencore. The City of Timmins is disappointed in the decision not to locate the smelter in Timmins, but officials say they are looking forward to completing an exit interview with the Noront team who will explain the decision making process.

“We do know that the Timmins site offered more competitive capital costs but that operational costs may have been advantageous to Sault Ste. Marie,” explained City of Timmins Mayor George Pirie. “We expect the construction of this facility will occur at least a decade away, and we will continue to press our case for locating the smelter in Timmins.”

Staff would like to take the opportunity to thank our partners in this process – the Timmins Economic Development Corporation, Ontario Northland, the Timmins Chamber of Commerce, Porcupine Engineering and the hundreds of residents who wrote letters of support for the “Bring the Ring” campaign. Glencore also did a great deal of work to prepare the Noront team on the benefits of locating at the Timmins metallurgical site, and we thank them for their professionalism and assistance.

Background:
In 2017, Noront Resources sent out a request for responses for a location to set up their Ferrochrome Processing facility. At that time, the City of Timmins and the Timmins Economic Development Corporation worked with a number of partners to submit our bid for the facility. Assistance was provided by Glencore, Porcupine Engineering Services, Ontario Northland, and the Chamber of Commerce. Throughout 2018, City and economic development officials continued to meet with and lobby Noront Resources to locate the smelter in Timmins at the Glencore metallurgical facility. Noront Resources met with all key stakeholders at Glencore to determine site specification for their project.

Filed under: Local News