Canadian miners call for more US-like approach to mining policy

Canada risks lagging behind in the global race for critical minerals production if the federal government does not step up its urgency and adopt a more US-like approach to mining policy, industry representatives said during the Energy and Mines Toronto Summit on Nov. 28–29.

Both countries are implementing landmark mining strategies and policy aimed at facilitating the energy transition. Canada introduced the Critical Minerals Strategy in December 2022 after the US enacted the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022, amid an expected boom in critical minerals demand. Yet, although Canadian government priorities are shifting to emphasize mining needs, the federal government's approach has lagged relative to the US, miners said.

"In Canada, we have all 30 critical minerals [but] we do not have any reserves, so what we need to be doing is not talking about ... infrastructure development, that is, for shovel-ready projects, because they're not shovel-ready," Belinda Labatte, CEO and director of Canada-based graphite and lithium company Lomiko Metals Inc., said during a Nov. 29 panel. "The Inflation Reduction Act is a wartime act. ... It is a very strategic military position, a defensive position that we are not taking in Canada, and yet we are neighbors and we have the resources."

Buildout urgency

Government officials and miners alike argued for speeding up the opening of new mines to meet energy transition goals.

"It's clear that the rate at which new mines come online will need to dramatically increase over the next two decades," Andrew Ghattas, a senior director at Natural Resources Canada, a federal agency, said during a Nov. 29 address at the conference. "Specifically, the rate at which new mines open in Canada will need to be five times faster than we've seen in the past 20 years if Canada is to be self-sufficient in supplying the critical minerals needed for domestic [electric vehicle] production."

US federal policy has been successful at identifying the importance of critical minerals needs, miners said.

"The Inflation Reduction Act, by its nature and the fact it's supported by the US, really puts a fine point on the urgency around critical minerals for western countries," David Ewing, vice president of sustainability and external affairs for Canada-based Frontier Lithium Inc., said during the Nov. 29 panel.

Part of that difference stems from a different base approach to domestic mining and international trade.

"I think the [Canadian] government strategy started out as a very noble decarbonization strategy [for] climate change, but it's quickly shifting and I think the US acts much, much faster than Canada," Leon Binedell, president and CEO of nickel and cobalt producer Sherritt International Corp., said during the panel.

"How [the US] positions things has been really from an economic warfare [perspective] with China that's been going on for a very long time, so they were a little bit faster on moving forward with things," Binedell added. "What [Canada's] trying to do in a sense is rebuilding what's been done in 100 years, in 10 [years]."

The US government has also beat the Canadian government to the punch when it comes to consulting miners, panelists said.

"It's been fascinating to see a Canadian company talking to the American procurement group within the [US] Department of Defense about our Canadian graphite project," Lomiko Metals' Labatte said. "The Canadian federal government has not reached out in the same way."

Although the Canadian government has been slower to make critical minerals mining a political priority, miners said this is beginning to change.

"The reality in Canada is that we're a small country, [but] we have an extraordinary wealth of critical minerals here," Frontier Lithium's Ewing said, adding that the US government was also one of the first governments to reach out to Frontier Lithium. "We need to ... focus on what we're good at, and I think that from the [Canadian] federal government, we're seeing a bit of an evolution in how that strategy is rolling out [and] I think that evolution is positive."

Strategy improvements remain

Despite US outreach and a shift in Canadian strategy, miners said there remains room for improvement when it comes to future political and funding priorities.

"From our perspective, the biggest gap is on the midstream side," Zeeshan Syed, president of diversified miner Avalon Advanced Materials Inc., said during a separate Nov. 29 panel. Syed added that the US and Canadian governments have done well at attracting downstream investments but are still facing down dominance by China in midstream battery material refining.

"We need to cherish our smelters and refineries," Alexis Segal, head of governmental relations, corporate affairs and communications at Glencore Canada Corp., said during the Nov. 29 panel with Labatte and others. "We shut down all our copper smelters. ... We have those assets — copper, zinc [and] nickel smelters, refineries — that we need to protect."

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