RICHMOND, BC, July 11,
2024 /CNW/ - From mining to manufacturing cars and
batteries, to charging and end-of-life recycling, the electric
vehicle supply chain presents enormous economic opportunity for
Canada. Canada is supporting strong domestic value
chains for critical minerals and the clean technologies and energy
sources they enable. The mining sector alone directly and
indirectly employs over 700,000 Canadians and contributes almost
$160 billion to Canada's gross domestic product, providing
notable economic benefits to Canadians across the country. Through
strategic investments, the Government of Canada is building up every part of the supply
chain at home, maximizing economic growth and job creation, and
demonstrating why Canada is the
most promising location for lithium-ion battery supply chains
internationally.
Yesterday, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy
and Natural Resources, announced two investments totaling over
$9 million to Saltworks Technologies
Inc. (Saltworks) and NORAM Electrolysis Systems Inc. (NESI) to
support the battery supply chain in British Columbia under the Critical Minerals
Research, Development and Demonstration (CMRDD) program. These
investments will support Canada's
ability to address a gap in midstream lithium processing through
the advancement of Canadian technologies.
The $4,937,500 investment to
Saltworks will be used to accelerate the concentration and
conversion of Canadian lithium brine into lithium battery
precursors using two novel technologies developed and tested by
Saltworks. This project could accelerate access to lithium
resources and reduce investment risk in Canada's brine-to-battery lithium industry. An
additional investment of $4,500,000
to NESI will support industrial-scale demonstration of membrane
electrolysis technology for lithium production at NESI's new test
centre. The project will help commercialize sustainable lithium
hydroxide production from a variety of lithium resources, enabling
wide-scale industrial implementation of membrane electrolysis
technology.
Canada is making significant
investments in critical minerals — such as copper, lithium, nickel,
cobalt and rare earth elements — because they are essential to many
modern technologies. The Government of Canada is committed to positioning
Canada as a global leader and
first-class producer of a wide variety of critical minerals and to
the creation of secure value chains, from mines to
manufacturing.
Quotes
"Across critical mineral value chains — from upstream
exploration and extraction to downstream processing, manufacturing
and recycling — the electric vehicle supply chain holds incredible
economic opportunity for Canada
and Canadians. New clean technologies will help address gaps in our
world-leading supply chain; seize the economic opportunity
presented to us; keep Canadian industry competitive in a rapidly
evolving global context; and create jobs — now and for future
generations."
The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of
Energy and Natural Resources
"Development of our nation's rich lithium resources is paramount
to the prosperity of Canadians for generations to come but requires
innovation to unlock Canada's vast
and dilute brines. Saltworks is thankful to have been awarded NRCan
CMRDD funding to continue developing distinguished and innovative
technologies that support Canada's
Critical Mineral Strategy."
Benjamin
Sparrow
CEO, Saltworks Technologies Inc.
"Lithium hydroxide production by electrolysis has become a key
technology for ensuring that the environmental impact associated
with the production and recycling of critical minerals is
minimized. NESI's project, supported by the CMRDD program, will
result in the establishment of an industrial-scale Lithium
Electrolysis Test Centre producing tonnage quantities of
battery-grade lithium hydroxide from both domestic and
international lithium resources. NRCan's support of midstream
lithium processing technologies will ensure that Canada is able to fully participate in the
global transition to electrification."
Jeremy
Moulson
President and CEO of NORAM Electrolysis
Systems Inc.
Quick Facts
- Budget 2022 provided $3.8 billion
over eight years to implement the Canadian Critical Minerals
Strategy. The funding covers a range of industrial activities, from
geoscience and exploration to mineral processing, manufacturing and
recycling applications, including support for research, development
and technological deployment.
- Canada's Critical Minerals
Strategy is part of Canada's strengthened climate plan, 2030
Emissions Reduction Plan: Clean Air, Strong Economy, which advances
Canada's goals of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by
2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
- Critical Minerals have been identified as a key opportunity
area under the British Columbia Regional Energy and Resource Table
(RERT) and feature prominently in the British Columbia Regional
Energy and Resource Table – Framework for Collaboration on the Path
to Net-Zero. The RERTs are joint partnerships between
the federal government and individual provincial and territorial
governments in collaboration with Indigenous partners — and with
input from key stakeholders — to identify and accelerate shared
economic priorities for a low-carbon future in the energy and
resource sectors.
Related Information
- Saltworks Technologies Inc.
- NORAM Electrolysis Systems Inc.
- Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration
Program
- Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy
- Government of Canada Launches Second Call for Proposals for
Critical Minerals Research Development and Demonstration
Program
- Government of Canada Announces $10
Million to Support Critical Minerals Mining in Northern Ontario
- Minister Wilkinson Releases Canada's $3.8-billion Critical Minerals Strategy to Seize
Generational Opportunity for Clean, Inclusive Growth
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SOURCE Natural Resources Canada