Canada Backs 25 Critical Minerals Projects in G-7 Initiative

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(Bloomberg) — Rio Tinto Group and Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. are among more than a dozen companies set to benefit from a Group of Seven initiative to strengthen access to critical minerals.

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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government announced 25 new investments, partnerships and measures totaling C$1.4 billion ($1 billion) at the Group of Seven energy ministers’ meeting in Toronto on Friday. The support is part of a G-7 initiative launched in June to focus on bolstering investments in raw materials key to defense, clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

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“We have an incredible set of cards in our critical mineral resources. We have not effectively developed those in the past,” Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson told reporters in Toronto. “These actions, with the support of our allies, are designed to do that and make sure Canada has all the cards it needs in a world where access to critical minerals is becoming a tool of political and geopolitical coercion.”

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The deals aim to bolster projects across Canada, with an eye to securing supplies outside of China, which controls a large swath of the global supply chain for these strategic materials. The US and Canada, along with its allies, have sought to secure access to metals such as copper, lithium and nickel, as well as rare earth elements, that are key ingredients in manufacturing, electronics and military equipment.

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The announcement includes C$25 million for a Rio Tinto plant in Quebec that will produce scandium, a niche metal used in aluminum alloys for aerospace and defense manufacturing. Ucore Rare Metals Inc. received a conditional C$36.3 million to expand its rare earths processing plant in Ontario. Other recipients include Northern Graphite Corp., Focus Graphite Inc. and Torngat Metals Ltd.

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Nouveau Monde Graphite jumped as much as 24% following the announcement of a future supply deal with Canada, Panasonic Holdings Corp. and Traxys North America LLC, before paring gains to close 13% higher in Toronto. Shares of Northern Graphite, which operates North America’s only producing graphite mine, rose 29%.

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Not all funding is guaranteed: Norway’s Vianode AS, which aims to build a synthetic graphite facility in Ontario, received a letter of interest for as much as $500 million in potential financing from Canada, along with $300 million from the German government.

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Hodgson also said Canada issued an order designating critical minerals as essential to Canadian defense and national interests, enabling the nation to start its own stockpiling regime and support multilateral caching efforts.

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Some of the announced deals include future supply contracts with the Canadian government that will allow the nation to stockpile minerals for use in sectors including automaking and the military. Hodgson said the government will stockpile three different types of critical minerals, without specifying which ones.

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“These measures will strengthen our capabilities in strategic sectors and contribute to NATO and defense spending commitments,” Hodgson said in prepared comments. “By protecting domestic production under volatile global conditions, we ensure a secure supply of critical minerals to Canadian and allied defense industries.”

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(Updates shares in sixth paragraph and adds quote from Hodgson. An earlier version corrected currency for Vianode project.)

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