Canada invests $10m in Ontario infrastructure to support critical minerals projects

The Canadian government has earmarked up to C$13.8 million ($10 million) in funding for five infrastructure developments in Northwestern Ontario as part of a nationwide strategy to improve access to its rich endowment of critical minerals.

The funding, pending due diligence, will be provided through the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (CMIF) — a program set up by the federal government to address infrastructure gaps in the critical minerals sector.

A total of four companies — three focused on lithium and one on copper — have been named the recipients of this funding.

Green TM Resources Canada has been backed with C$5.5 million to upgrade 56 km of existing roads and replace three bridges to support the development of a lithium mine near Armstrong, Ontario.

Rock Tech Lithium is expected to net C$1.4 million to upgrade and extend a 10-km access road north of Nipigon, Ontario, that would enable the transportation of lithium from its Georgia Lake project mine site.

Frontier Lithium would receive C$6.1 million to advance Indigenous engagement and engineering for a 56- km all-season road and electricity infrastructure for the Pakeagama (PAK) lithium project in Northwestern Ontario.

Generation PGM will get C$771,100 to undertake an engineering and design work for a 5-km access road, as well as feasibility studies for additional road and rail links to support the movement of copper concentrates from its Marathon project to smelters and refiners.

These new critical minerals projects, alongside investments in clean energy and nuclear power that were announced earlier this year, are part of the government of Canada’s partnership with Ontario through the Regional Energy and Resource Tables.

Ontario joined the Regional Tables process in 2022 as a way for the two levels of government to work closer together, and with Indigenous partners, to identify shared opportunities to seize the tremendous opportunities of the low-carbon economy.

In a statement Monday, Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, said “These projects, under the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy’s flagship program, will develop the necessary infrastructure to access and transport our rich critical mineral resources in Northwestern Ontario to market.”

“These five energy and transportation infrastructure development projects will benefit a critical mineral region in Northern Ontario. It will also improve transportation safety, reliability and access to essential services, and reinforce our government’s commitment to a net-zero future,” added Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario.