TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Ring of Fire (RoF) development company KWG Resources has signed a memorandum of understanding with China Railway First Survey & Design Institute Group (FSDI) that establishes the terms for mutually proceeding with a feasibility study for the design and financing of a railroad that will link the emerging RoF mining camp with global markets.

KWG has reported that a delegation of FSDI professionals would travel to Ontario for initial consultations by mid-March.

The right-of-way, staked and assessed by KWG subsidiary Canada Chrome Corporation (CCC), would provide the basic alignment for the route. These claims traversed the traditional territories of the Aroland and Marten Falls First Nations, whom KWG consulted to ensure that the First Nations' interests were accommodated, before the partners entered into further definitive agreements.

The MoU was facilitated by TSX-V-listed Golden Share Mining, KWG's agent in China. KWG had also engaged China- and Canada-based Intercedent Limited, to advise globally on the transaction.

To secure access to its mineral interests in the RoF, CCC, in an unprecedented move in 2010, staked mineral claims along a 340-km-long route, covering a series of sand ridges over which it planned to build its railway, connecting to the Canadian National main line near Nakina, northwards into the RoF.

CCC’s claims were, however, subject to litigation, with KWG expecting the imminent ruling of a three-judge panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal with regard to arguments presented by RoF majority landowner Noront Resources and the Attorney General of Ontario to the appeal of CCC.

Early last year, CCC received an order of the Court of Appeal granting leave to appeal the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice's decision, released July 30, 2014, which ruled that CCC's consent should be waived in an application by Cliffs Natural Resources for an easement to build a road over its mining claims.

In April 2015, Noront gained a majority land position in the RoF when it acquired Cliffs’ assets for $20-million. Noront inherited the litigation started by Cliffs, contained in an Ontario-registered numbered company through the acquisition.