Natural Resources Minister makes big announcements on mining in Sudbury

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson had a busy day in Sudbury with two funding announcements and a big shift to the critical minerals list with the addition of three more.

Critical minerals and the environment were two of the main reasons for a visit from Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, where he made two funding announcements worth more than $10 million total.

Wilkinson began his day Monday by announcing two investments of $5 million each to the Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corp (MIRARCO) and Electra Battery Materials Corporation (Electra) to support the critical minerals sector in northern Ontario.

Funding to MIRARCO will aim to advance technological readiness of the recovery of battery metals like nickel, cobalt and copper from mine tailings at Vale and Glencore mines in the Greater Sudbury mine while reducing the long-term social and environmental costs associated with mine waste.

Electra will be used to advance the next phase of its battery materials recycling project. The company is currently constructing the continent’s only battery grade cobalt refinery as part of an effort to built the North American supply chain for battery materials.

That same day, the Canadian government announced that it would be releasing an updated critical minerals list by adding three new minerals. The list guides feral policy and programs and signals a government priority to stakeholders.

After consultation with the provinces and territories, the government added high-purity iron, phosphorous and silicon metal to bring the total of critical minerals on the govenrment’s list to 34.

From there it was off for a tour of Dynamic Earth before finishing at the Jane Goodall Reclamation Trail in Garson.