Ottawa funds critical mineral innovators as part of $3.8 billion strategy

Ottawa awarded six critical minerals companies a total of $14 million on Tuesday to help them develop technologies to mine or process metals bound for electric vehicles.  

East Coast rare earths explorer Search Minerals (TSX.V: SMY; OTC: SHCMF) gets $5 million; about $3.5 million is for Alberta-focused E3 Lithium (TSXV: ETL; OTC: EEMMF), which got $27 million from federal innovation funding last year; and $3 million goes to rare earths recycler Geomega Resources (TSXV: GMA).  

About $1.1 million is for Regina-based Prairie Lithium, a unit of Arizona Lithium (ASX: AZL; US-OTC: AZLAF), while $795,524 is for nickel and cobalt producer Sherritt International (TSX: S), and $724,871 goes to FPX Nickel (TSXV: FPX; OTC: FPOCF).  

“Canadian innovators are leading the way toward a cleaner future,” Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, said in a news release accompanying remarks at PDAC in Toronto. “This means good jobs for workers, more investment in Canadian innovation and lower emissions across the country.” 

The funding was part of a government statement on how Ottawa will spend some of its nearly $3.8 billion critical minerals strategy by 2030 that was announced almost a year ago in the federal budget. The aim is to speed up mining the 31 minerals declared critical for their roles in economic security to challenge China’s dominance of the metals and for cutting carbon emissions to fight climate change.  

The critical list includes copper for wiring, nickel, cobalt, graphite and lithium for batteries, silver for solar panels and rare earth elements used in everything from defence systems to cell phones and wind turbines.  

The $14 million funding as part of the Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration Program is the first instalment of some $200 million targeting innovation, Natural Resources Canada said.  

Wilkinson also outlined plans on Tuesday for $344 million in six programs loosely centred around research and technology, although most of that funding was declared in December. 

One aspect that may be new is $70 million for Canada to fund international collaboration in the critical minerals scramble. Last year, Canada joined the new Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance, which grouped the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany and Japan to help each other on mining projects.  

Funding for a Critical Minerals Centre of Excellence, to help implement the strategy, appeared to be cut in about half to $10.6 million compared with $21.5 million in December. 

The largest chunk is $144.4 million previously mentioned for developing and spreading new technologies to use in mining and processing critical minerals all the way to finished products like electric vehicle batteries.  

The Natural Resource ministry also repeated $40 million to help regulations in Canada’s North and $79.2 million for developing geoscience data methods such as digital mapping of deposits. 

“Canada will remain at the forefront of the economy of tomorrow by continuing to develop our critical minerals and metals,” François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said in the release. “We will leverage our competitive advantages in clean energy, talent, sustainable mining, and innovation.”