Ottawa is set to pour an “unprecedented” amount of public money into the mining and metals sector as growing global demand forcreates what industry insiders say is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Canadian resources.
While Canada already mines many of the minerals targeted for investment and has significant repositories of others, the volumes that are currently produced are not going to be enough to keep up with the coming energy transition and the electrification of transportation systems, Gratton said. Mineral production for many of these substances is highly concentrated. More than three-quarters of global output in lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements come from three countries, the International Energy Agency reports, and China has “a strong presence across the board” when it comes to processing critical minerals.
“What the industry needs all over is investment,” Doornbas said. “It is getting a bit easier now, but two or three years ago it was really difficult finding equity capital to fund the business.” In addition to investing in exploration, the Liberal government is also committing $1.5 billion for new critical minerals projects in the areas of processing, materials manufacturing and recycling, as well as $144 million for research to support the responsible extraction and processing of critical minerals.