Ontario wants to be the leader in the supply of critical minerals like platinum and palladium.
They are minerals used in produces like catalytic converters, electric vehicles, battery manufacturing, electronics and national defence.
The province is now released a new strategy with a focus on six key areas;
• Enhancing geoscience information and supporting critical minerals exploration
• Growing domestic processing and creating resilient local supply chains
• Improving the regulatory framework to make the mining industry more globally
competitive
• Investing in innovation, research and development
• Building economic development opportunities with Indigenous partners
• Growing labour supply and developing a skilled labour force
“It’s a plan that will attract investment to create good jobs in our auto and mining manufacturing sectors. It’s a plan that’s connecting resource industries and workers in northern Ontario to the future of clean steel and electric vehicles,” says Premier Doug Ford.
Ford visited Impala Canada’s Lac Des Iles Mine north of Thunder Bay to unveil the strategy.
Supplied photo
The mine is only one of two known palladium deposits in North America and delivers 30 per cent of all palladium produced in Canada.
Ford says northern Ontario will be key component of the strategy.
“We have the natural resources. We have the best workers on the planet right here, and we’re creating the conditions for companies to invest in jobs,” says Ford.
Northern Development and Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry Minister Greg Rickford says Ontario stands above other nations where the minerals are also available.
“From a jurisdiction that has high environmentalist standards, that is improving its Indigenous engagement and involvement in these kinds of activities, has labour standards and workers of a first-class that are producing them in sharp contract to the jurisdictions like China and Russia,” notes Rickford.
Rickford says the minerals are also being extracted safely and in an environmentally-friendly way.
Ontario identifies 33 critical minerals, including nickel, cobalt, lithium, platinum group elements and rare earth elements.
Ontario produced approximately $3.5 billion worth of critical minerals in 2020.
