Ring of Fire firm names 3 First Nations advisers

The Canadian Chrome Company Inc. said Oct. 13 that three members of Marten Falls and Attawapiskat First Nations have agreed to sit on a steering committee advising on possible First Nations participation in deals involving Ring of Fire chromite assets in northern Ontario, while stressing that no First Nation has consented to any transaction.

Updated Oct. 15, 2026. This story is developing.

The company, formerly KWG Resources Inc. (CSE: CACR), named Vida Baxter and Lawrence Baxter, both Marten Falls members, and Theresa Okimaw-Hall of Attawapiskat, according to NetNewsLedger’s report on the company’s announcement. Lawrence Baxter and Okimaw-Hall are former chiefs.

The three serve in a personal capacity. The company said the committee was not formed by a First Nation, does not bind any First Nation and does not represent community consent. It is not a Chief and Council resolution or a community ratification.

CEO Frank Smeenk said the company wants potential partners to hear Indigenous perspectives before any agreement is reached. “Their consent is not the consent of their Nations,” he said, adding that the announcement “does not sell the assets or create a First Nations interest.”

The committee would advise on how any interest acquired for participating First Nations could be held and used, and could suggest trustees. It would not settle transaction terms.

The company is also reviewing strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company or its assets. It holds a 90 per cent joint-venture interest in chromium claims at Koper Lake and a 30 per cent interest in Big Daddy. It has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with The Gitchiziibii Company Inc. to help identify partners. No First Nation has agreed to that memorandum, and neither side is obliged to complete a deal.

The company said no purchaser has agreed to buy it or its assets. It also said there is no assurance the review will produce a sale, merger or financing.

The resource figures are dated. The company cites technical reports from 2014 and 2015, including an inferred 85.9 million tonnes at Koper Lake. Resources are not reserves, and neither project has a preliminary economic assessment, according to the NetNewsLedger summary.

The announcement also puts a spotlight on Gitchiziibii. In a Sept. 15, 2025 news release, the company said Gitchiziibii was incorporated in November 2021, with Vida Baxter as its sole director. It described the firm as an agent of its subsidiary that agreed to hold the company’s “Corridor Claims” along a proposed route as an interim trustee.

That release was a response to a Marten Falls statement. Marten Falls said in September 2025 that it had no agreement with the company, and the company said that position is unchanged. Chiefs and councils at Marten Falls and Attawapiskat have not commented in the material reviewed.

The company said an attempt to transfer the claims to Gitchiziibii was not recorded by registry officials, and that government officials later recorded forfeitures. On June 8, 2026, it announced that its request and appeal for relief were denied. Gitchiziibii holds no interest in Koper Lake or Big Daddy, the company said.

The unanswered questions matter for the region. Ontario began building the 184-kilometre Marten Falls Community Access Road in September, as we reported, while Neskantaga and other communities continue to hold out. Not every nation with ties to the Ring of Fire has the same view of development, and a committee of individuals cannot speak for any of them.

The announcement did not disclose a sale price, the committee’s term or pay, how its members were chosen, or the trust structure for any First Nations interest. It also did not name a successor to board chair Douglas Flett, who retired Sept. 30.

Most of the details come from the company itself, and the original news release was not available to review. The company’s claims about the committee and the memorandum have not been confirmed by the First Nations named.

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Via NetNewsLedger. Additional sourcing: The Canadian Chrome Company Inc. news release of Sept. 15, 2025.