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Northern Graphite is seeking government support in financing the construction of Bissett Creek graphite mine in Ontario and extending the mine life and production at its producing Lac-des-Îles graphite mine in Quebec.
It also wants Ottawa to support plans to build a manufacturing facility in Canada to convert mine production into battery anode material.
"The federal government and the provinces of Quebec and Ontario have all strongly expressed their support for the critical minerals industry in recognition of its importance to the green economy," Northern Graphite said.
The firm's Lac-des-Îles mine is the only significant graphite producer in North America, Bissett Creek is one of the most advanced critical minerals projects in Canada and soon the company will have graphite production from Namibia which can be processed into battery material in Canada, the firm said.
Canada is already a leading producer of what it classifies as critical minerals copper, nickel and cobalt and is home to a host of projects including in lithium, graphite and vanadium.
But Wilkinson did highlight "barriers" that Canada needed to overcome to develop its critical minerals sector. "For exmple, going forward it simply cannot be the case that it takes up to 15 years to develop and bring into production a new mine."
The country is home to 31 critical minerals, and contains "significant deposits" of those in greatest demand, with 13 rare earth projects being advanced. These include platinum group metals, tin, uranium and zinc.
The Canadian government signalled its commitment to developing critical minerals in an announcement on June 13 that it would pledge up to C$100 million to help reduce emissions at BHP's Jansen potash mine project in Saskatchewan.
