U.S. looking to Canada for lithium and other minerals for batteries for electric vehicles. The U.S. government is working to help American miners and battery makers expand into Canada, part of a strategy to boost regional production of minerals used to make electric vehicles and counter Chinese dominance. Recently, the U.S. Department of Commerce hosted a closed-door virtual meeting with miners and battery manufacturers to discuss ways to boost Canadian production of EV materials, according to documents seen by Reuters.
The move comes as demand for electrified transportation is set to surge over the next decade. Conservationists have strongly opposed several large U.S. mining projects, leading officials to look north of the border to Canada and its supply of 13 of the 35 minerals deemed critical for national defense by Washington.
Tesla, Albemarle, Talon Metals and Livent were among the more-than 30 attendees at the meeting who discussed ways Washington can assist U.S. companies expand in Canada and overcome logistical challenges, according to the documents.
The event comes after U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed last month to building an EV supply chain between the two countries. Since Biden’s election, three U.S. mining companies have invested in Canada, where mining accounts for 5% of the country’s gross domestic product, versus roughly 0.9% in the United States.
An article in CNBC.com said that: “The United States is really taking this seriously” said an industry CEO. Lithium-ion batteries are dangerous to transport over long distances, so automakers prefer to have them built near assembly plants. That should aid efforts by Ontario and Quebec to develop their own battery cell plants with both provinces close to U.S. automakers in Michigan and Ohio, industry executives said.
To be sure, the United States is also trying to boost domestic production of EV metals, which the Biden administration has said is critical. But Washington is increasingly viewing Canada as a kind of “51st State” for mineral supply purposes and plans to deepen financial and logistical partnerships with the country’s mining sector over time, according to a U.S. government source.
Keith Phillips, CEO of Piedmont Lithium Limited (NASDAQ: PLL):
You’re beginning to see Canada become an important part of the North American EV supply chain
QMC Quantum Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: QMC) (OTCPK: QMCQF) QMC APPOINTS DANIEL LEROUX AS TECHNICAL ADVISOR – QMC Quantum Minerals Corp., (“QMC” or “the Company”) has appointed Daniel Leroux, M.Sc., P. Geo, as a technical advisor to assist the Company with the focus of increasing the resource at Irgon Lithium Mine Project and bringing it to production in Manitoba.
Similarly, Mr. Leroux will also help QMC to develop the Namew Lake District project containing nickel, copper, and gold. Mr. Leroux was the former Global Business Manager – Geological Services for SGS and managed staff and consultants that worked on many significant world-wide lithium pegmatite projects including Sigma Lithium (Brazil) and Nemaska Lithium (Quebec).
Daniel Leroux, Technical Advisor, commented:
I am excited join the QMC team as a technical advisor and help them advance their Irgon Lithium Project towards production.
“With a project which has the Irgon pegmatite dike system as well as several additional lithium pegmatite dikes swarms identified to date and nearby infrastructure in place, unlike many other projects, the Irgon Project could be a low-cost producer.”
“QMC will be an important part of the Canadian Government ‘s recently announced 31 minerals considered critical for the sustainable economic success of Canada (March 11, 2021).”
Balraj Mann commented:
We are excited to have Dniel joining the team with his expertise.
“Access to his global network of experts and service providers will help move the Company’s Irgon Lithium Mine Project towards production. QMC will be an important part of the supply chain due to its close proximity to EV and battery manufacturing plants. The Irgon Lithium Mine’s pegmatite dikes additionally contain cesium, niobium, tantalum, and other rare-earth metals.”
Mr. Leroux is a bilingual (French-English) economic geologist with over 25+ years of diversified geological, project generation, mining, mineral processing, project management, corporate and executive experience with both major and junior mining companies and with geological and mining consultancy firms. Mr. Leroux is currently the CEO and Vice President Exploration of Zodiac Gold Inc. a Canadian based private mineral exploration and development company with gold projects located in Liberia.
From 2003 to 2015, he was the co-owner and Vice President of A.C.A. Howe International Limited (A.C.A. Howe), a geological and mining consulting firm established in 1960 that operated offices in Toronto, Canada and London, UK until the Canadian operation was acquired by CSA Global in 2016. A.C.A Howe was instrumental in the discovery of the Bernic Lake (Cabot/Sinomine) tantalum mine in the early 1960’s.
From 2011 to 2013, Daniel was the Vice President Exploration and in 2014, the President of RDX Minerals Inc. a private Canadian-based junior mining company. From 1988-1990, Daniel worked for Inco Exploration and Technical Services (now Vale) and with Placer Dome in 1991.
Mr. Leroux holds both a B.Sc. degree (Geology) and a Master of Science in Mineral Exploration degree from Laurentian University. He is a registered member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (“APGO”), the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan (“APEGS”) and l ‘Ordre des géologues du Québec (“OGQ”).
U.S. Looking to Canada for Lithium and Other Minerals to Build Electric Vehicles, PALM BEACH, FL, March 22, 2021
