Ring of Fire Pacific plate is being subducted beneath the Aleutian Islands arc. Farther west, the Pacific plate is being subducted along the Kamchatka Peninsula arcs on south past Japan. The southern portion is more complex, with a number of smaller tectonic plates in collision with the Pacific plate from the Mariana Islands, the Philippines, Bougainville, Tonga, and New Zealand; this portion excludes Australia, since it lies in the center of its tectonic plate. Indonesia lies between the Ring of Fire along the northeastern islands adjacent to and including New Guinea and the Alpide belt along the south and west from Sumatra, Java,
Ring of Fire (Northern Ontario) Bay. The Ring of Fire was named when the first significant mineral finds were made in the region, by Richard Nemis, after Johnny Cash's famous country and western ballad. Nemis, the founder and president of Noront Resources, was a lifelong fan of the singer. Prior to its discovery, Canada and the United States were compelled to rely on offshore sources for chromite, principally from South Africa. By the fall of 2011, the Ring of Fire was considered "one of the largest potential mineral reserves in Ontario" with "more than 35 junior and intermediate mining and exploration companies covering an area