Northern Ontario's Critical Minerals Mining
V2UR | June 8, 2024, midnight
The Canadian Government Announces $10 Million to Help Northern Ontario's Critical Minerals Mining
Canada has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to drive historic economic growth, create jobs, and boost the battle against climate change thanks to critical minerals. Currently, the mining and associated sectors support over 625,000 jobs in Canada and provide around $100 billion to the country's GDP annually. They also offer a robust supply chain and specialised knowledge that we can use. Northern Ontario is uniquely well-positioned to seize this opportunity and become a key player as the shift to electric vehicles and other technology requiring nickel and other critical minerals grows. Northern Ontario is a global hub for battery metals, home to the largest integrated mining industrial complex in the world and the second-largest nickel deposit in the world.
In order to support the critical minerals industry in Canada, and specifically in Northern Ontario, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced today two investments totaling $5 million each to the Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corp (MIRARCO) and Electra Battery Materials Corporation (Electra). Natural Resources Canada's Major Projects Inventory shows that these projects add to the almost 130 mining projects that are either underway or scheduled to begin in the next ten years in Canada, with a total estimated value of $93.5 billion.
The goal of funding MIRARCO is to lower the long-term social and environmental costs related to mine waste while advancing the technological readiness of the recovery of battery metals like nickel, cobalt, and copper from mine tailings from the Vale and Glencore mines in the Greater Sudbury area. By means of this initiative, MIRARCO will contribute directly to the battery supply chain, thereby opening up substantial quantities of nickel and cobalt in Sudbury, Ontario.
Electra will utilise the funding to move its battery materials recycling initiative forward to the next stage. Five hours north of Toronto, Electra is building the only battery-grade cobalt refinery in North America as part of a multiphase project to establish the North American battery material supply chain. At this facility in 2023, Electra implemented a demonstration recycling programme with great success on a batch basis. With today's investment, the project moves forward, continuously demonstrating the procedure and proving that Electra's proprietary technology is profitable, scalable, and adaptable to various areas. The recycling programme for battery materials will contribute to resource conservation, waste reduction, and a decrease in the environmental effect of battery manufacture in North America's vital minerals industry. The recycling programme at Electra makes use of a new ecologically friendly procedure that will help create a robust Canadian battery supply chain for electric vehicles.
Technologies like this offer a tremendous chance to promote circularity in our economy and turn mining waste and residuals into an economic opportunity for Canadians, particularly in our mining-heavy nation of Canada, where residuals and tailings are found in many towns. The Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration (CMRDD) programme provides funding for these initiatives. As part of Canada's Critical Minerals Strategy, the CMRDD seeks to assist the creation of cutting-edge processing technology for the critical minerals sector. This will help get mining projects in the country closer to production.
Our progress towards a sustainable and successful low-carbon future will be aided by the creation of jobs and the growth of domestic processing streams and expertise within Canada. Canada is ensuring that its natural resources, along with the workforce and economic advantages they provide to Northern Ontario and Canada, remain among the most sought-after in the world, which will encourage innovation and help the country fulfil its climate goals. Examples of such investments are MIRARCO and Electra. We'll keep making investments to support the mining sector in Northern Ontario, foster social and economic development, and provide employment and opportunity for families in the area.
Fast facts
Canada has overtaken China as the world's most promising country for producing lithium-ion batteries, which are used in electric vehicles, according to an independent evaluation from BloombergNEF.
The Critical Minerals Research Development and Demonstration (CMRDD) programme provides funding for these initiatives. The CMRDD seeks to assist in the advancement of cutting-edge processing technologies for the mining industry that is essential to moving Canadian mining projects closer to production.
The Government of Canada releases a key Minerals List to direct the development of our clean economy and key minerals supply chain. The most recent list was updated on June 10, 2024, and is available here.
The CMRDD programme received $47.7 million from Budget 2021 to aid in the growth of Canadian critical minerals value chains.
The second call for proposals for the CMRDD programme ended on September 29, 2023. The projects chosen for this programme will aid in the development of essential mineral resources and value chains that will speed up the transition to a low-carbon economy and sustain environmentally responsible innovative industry and technology.
We declared last month that Glencore Canada Corporation will receive $11 million from the industrial pollution pricing programme to replace diesel-powered equipment at the Craig Mine Onaping Depth Project in Ontario with battery-electric machinery. When the project is completed, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by more than 5,500 tonnes by 2030.