'Decoupling' from China means more Canadian exploitation of Latin America, Africa

[Judi Lynn]

Canada and the US are targeting China’s mining industry as part of their new Cold War
Owen Schalk / May 22, 2023 / 11 min read



A cobalt mine in central Africa. Image by Fairphone/Flickr.

Last year, Ottawa announced its first-ever Critical Minerals Strategy, a program aimed at securing and expanding the access of Canadian companies to certain minerals deemed essential for the economy’s functioning. These 31 minerals, “the building blocks for the green and digital economy,” include: cobalt for jet engines, batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells; gallium for semiconductors, circuits, and LED lights; lithium for electric vehicle (EV) batteries; nickel for EV batteries, aerospace, and electronics; rare earth elements for wind turbines, EV motors, and defense technologies; and zinc for metal alloys and EVs.

Ottawa’s mineral exploration budget is one of the highest in the world. Canada also attracts around one-fifth of the world’s mineral exploration. While gold and copper dominate exploration budgets in Canada, the amount of capital poured into extracting battery metals like lithium, cobalt, and graphite is steadily growing. These critical minerals “attracted roughly double the proportion of the global budget in 2022 versus the 10-year average.”

There are currently 409 active lithium projects in Canada, most of which are not yet producing. Only one-quarter of these projects are in the “advanced” stage, where a significant amount of exploration and drilling has been done.

According to some estimates, the global market for batteries will increase 20 percent annually. The World Economic Forum asserts that “[t]he production of minerals such as graphite, lithium, and cobalt could increase by nearly 500 percent by 2050 to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies.”

New operations centred around battery metals and Canada’s “sustainable transition” are popping up throughout the country, such as Nouveau Monde Graphite in Québec. Mining officials and government representatives are urging Canada to lead the way in global lithium production. Ottawa is incentivizing mineral exploration across the country, including in the Northwest Territories. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced a critical minerals strategy of his own, while pushing for mining development in the north, specifically the Ring of Fire region, where Indigenous resistance is strong.

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https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/decoupling-from-china-means-more-canadian-exploitation-of-latin-america-africa