Achi news desk-
Mining for critical minerals is essential to Canada’s growth in the electric vehicle sector, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford said on the occasion of a “historic” and “national” $15-billion investment by Honda Motor Co. in southern Ontario.
Laying out a strategy to establish a secure “end-to-end” battery chain ecosystem, Trudeau said on April 25 that Canada has the abundant supply of critical minerals the rest of the world wants, the skilled talent available, and the manufacturing capacity higher to build the innovative economy of the future.
And compared to socially and environmentally questionable mining players like China, “our approach is much more responsible.”
Boosting Canada’s critical mineral production means taking advantage of greenfields like the Ring of Fire in the James Bay region.
In the decades-delayed governance process to do so, Premier Doug Ford expressed confidence that an upcoming agreement with Aroland First Nation will help make the critical next step in the construction of a north-south access road to the site the minerals of the Far North.
Honda is spending $15 billion on four manufacturing plants in Ontario, including building an electric vehicle battery plant next to its existing Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which is being retooled to produce electric vehicles.
Once operational in 2028, the new assembly plant will produce up to 240,000 vehicles a year. A thousand new direct jobs are expected to be created and an estimated 28,000 to 30,000 in economically derived jobs in the coming decades.
Queen’s Park and Ottawa are presenting the Japanese automaker with an extensive incentive package worth a combined $5 billion in federal clean-tech manufacturing tax credits and provincial support for site service costs.
This is the third electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in Ontario that the province and the federal government are supporting following a significant investment of dollars for the Stellantis LG plant in Windsor and the Volkwagen plant in St.
While Queen’s Park and Ottawa are spending billions in southern Ontario, relatively little has been announced in upstream investment in Northern Ontario to support the mid-level mines and processing facilities that will feed this ecosystem .
Four lithium companies with mineral deposits in northwestern Ontario are looking to the government for help to build lithium conversion plants in Thunder Bay, Red Rock and elsewhere in Northern Ontario.
The delivery of government funding has been slow.
The recent federal budget has made a commitment to the Berens River bridge and road network to provide year-round access to the PAK Frontier Lithium deposit in northwestern Ontario and surrounding communities.
In Temiskaming, Toronto’s Electra Battery Materials needs US$60 million to finish building its nickel, cobalt and battery recycling plant, a project that has been delayed for a year. The company is considering establishing a second refinery in Becancour, Que.
Honda said the vertically integrated Ontario supply chain will include some processing capability with a new precursor material processing facility formed through a joint venture partnership with POSCO Future M Co., Ltd., a South Korean battery materials company, along with a separator through a joint venture partnership with Asahi Kasei Corp., a Japanese chemical company.
It remains to be seen if any communities in Northern Ontario are in the running for these plants. Honda said more details will be introduced over the next six months.
Advancing a domestic mine-to-EV assembly plant supply chain was prominent in the minds of Trudeau and Ford, even if the path for government cooperation in the Ring of Fire remains unclear to get there.
Both leaders raised questions in the media that the two governments may be cutting regulatory corners to facilitate mine production in Canada.
Trudeau responded that Canada is widely regarded as a responsible and reliable supply chain partner in maintaining labor standards, working with indigenous people, and doing what is right in terms of the environment to offer clean products to the world.
“We will continue to invest in the mining sector in Canada. We have incredible mining expertise, but we will do so responsibly in partnership with indigenous people, unions and environmental protection. “
Ford pushed back against a question that First Nation communities in the Ring of Fire area were against development because they had not been properly consulted.
The main argument argued, calling Marten Falls and Webequie, the two First Nation communities closest to the Ring of Fire, great partners who lead the environmental assessment processes on their respective sections of the road.
“They’ve been an amazing, amazing partner and we’re looking forward to getting shovels in the ground.”
Ford revealed that an announcement will be made soon on an access road agreement with Aroland First Nation that could clear the path of the road.
Ford mentioned that he had “great conversations” with Aroland’s leadership and that the province was about to sign an agreement that would give the community control over the first 80 kilometers of the road. Aroland is located near the southern terminus of the road where it would connect to the provincial highway system at Nakina.
Driving a road to the Ring of Fire, Ford said, would create jobs and opportunities in the region, provide better access to health care, reduce the cost of food and supplies, and extend broadband and hydropower to the communities.
“This is going to change their lives.”
Mining development in the Ring of Fire has largely slowed since the discovery of nickel and chromite in 2007-’08.
The latest obstacle to development has been the imposition of a federal regional assessment by Ottawa in 2020. The new socio-economic process has been revamped in the past year to include more Indigenous oversight​​​​.
Meanwhile, the Ontario government has launched a legal challenge against the legality of the entire federal Impact Assessment Act.
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