Canada fast-tracks Newmont, Foran projects

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has named Newmont’s (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM) Red Chris copper-gold mine expansion in British Columbia and Foran Mining’s  (TSXV: FOM) McIlvenna Bay copper project in Saskatchewan to a federal fast-track list.

The initiative is part of a new Major Projects Office intended to cut the permitting timelines that often delay mines, pipelines and energy projects for more than a decade. Carney said that streamlined approvals will help spur investment and jobs while bolstering supply chains for critical minerals. The prime minister didn’t state dollar amounts of potential government investment in the projects.

“We used to build big things in this country,” Carney told reporters on Thursday. “We used to build them quickly. It’s time to get back at it, and get on with it.”

Red Chris, which Newmont operates in joint venture with Imperial Metals, has an estimated capital cost of about $2 billion (C$2.77 billion) for its underground block cave expansion. The mine is projected to produce roughly 170,000 tonnes of copper and 1.3 million oz. gold over its initial life. Foran’s McIlvenna Bay project carries a capital cost estimate of about C$368 million and could average the equivalent of 65 million lb. of copper annually over an 18-year operation, according to a 2022 feasibility study.

Shares in Newmont, the world’s largest gold producer, gained 2.5% to close at $110.11 apiece on Thursday in Toronto, for a company valuation of $87.4 billion. Foran stock rose 3.5% to $3.29 each for a market capitalization of $1.66 billion. Both companies were within a few cents of those marks by mid-Friday morning. 

List of five

The government also included the Shell-led expansion of the LNG Canada plant in British Columbia, a container port expansion in Montreal, and a small modular nuclear reactor project in Ontario among the five projects selected. Together, they reflect Ottawa’s strategy to channel investment into industries that support the energy transition and reduce exposure to U.S. trade frictions.

The focus on Red Chris and McIlvenna Bay highlights Ottawa’s view that copper is a cornerstone of the energy transition, with demand expected to rise sharply for use in electric vehicles, transmission lines and renewable power systems.

Provincial premiers across the country welcomed the federal initiative, even Danielle Smith in Alberta who had been expecting a pipeline project on the list. Some Indigenous leaders expressed concern the process is moving too fast, and environmentalists objected to the LNG project’s potential threats to the B.C. coast.

Analysts warn the global copper market is heading into a structural shortfall unless new production ramps up sharply. The International Energy Agency projects that by 2035 supply could be as much as 30% short of demand under current policies, while firms like Red Cloud see deficits emerging later this decade and deepening into the 2030s as needs from AI, energy storage and electrification grow.

Canada’s effort to speed approvals for major copper projects is aimed at easing those pressures and positioning the country as a reliable supplier of critical minerals.