Between now and mid-spring, it’s a waiting game for Timmins as it pursues Noront’s Ring of Fire smelter. Noront is evaluating the Timmins bid and proposals from Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay to determine the best city to host the plant. Factors the mining company will consider are site appropriateness, First Nation support, a skilled workforce and environmental factors. Noront expects to announce the successful bidder in three to four months. The smelter would process the chromite from the Ring of Fire which eventually becomes steel. Once Noront picks the successful bidder, the smelter would take five to 10 years to build and create 500 direct and indirect jobs.