Great Canadian Lithium Rush Explodes in Northwestern Ontario

Part of the Larger Critical Mineral Picture

But there was one other key piece of information you may have missed: Fedeli’s reference to lithium converter plants in Thunder Bay, Ont. “We’ll need the lithium from Northwestern Ontario,” Minister Fedeli told CTV News on March 13, 2023. “You’ll see at least one or more lithium hydroxide plants being built – in and around Thunder Bay, I suspect.”

This is the last piece of the puzzle for an end-to-end EV battery supply chain in Ontario.

by

Graham Strong

March was a big month for the EV battery sector in Ontario. VW announced its gigafactory in St. Thomas, Premier Doug Ford announced speeding up mining permits, and

Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, announced that for the first time in the car industry’s history, Northern Ontario would be a part of it.

How Crucial is a Secure Supply of Lithium?

There have been several announcements over the last two years by the provincial and federal

Cont’d on pg. 88

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Cont’d from pg. 86 governments – usually in partnership – about Ontario’s developing EV and EV battery industries. To date, the province has generated an estimated $17 billion in investments. VW, GM, Stellantis, LG, and Umicore are some of the heavy hitters already setting up shop in Ontario. But until recently, where they were all going to source that battery-grade lithium wasn’t talked about much – at least not publicly.

Supply chain concerns are driving many Western countries to find lithium in nearby allied countries. As tensions grow between China and Western nations, so too do questions about how secure those lithium and battery-grade lithium hydroxide supply chains can be. As we found during COVID, supply chains need to be stronger. Companies are looking for environmentally friendly solutions, too. The closer the sources of lithium are, the greener the whole process can be.

“If you ship lithium from Australia, the carbon footprint would be immense,” said Andrew Kane, the Natural Resources Business Development Manager at the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC). “But if it’s processed here and we only have to ship into southern Ontario, the carbon footprint is miniscule.”

The Lithium Map of Northwestern Ontario

There are four main mining companies in Northwestern Ontario developing several lithium projects – though that could be the tip of the iceberg. A few projects are in the advanced stage, gearing up for mining operations within the next two to five years. Consultation and permission from area First Nations and other Indigenous communities is an important step for all projects in the region.

Main Lithium

Companies

in NWO (Listed Alphabetically)

Avalon Advanced Metals Inc. (TSX:AVL)

Lithium Type: Petalite

Location: Separation Rapids Project, 70km north of Kenora, Ont.

Timelines: est. 2023-2025 lithium available for offtake; est. 2025-2026 battery-grade lithium hydroxide from Thunder Bay conversion plant* https://avalonadvancedmaterials. com/projects/separation_rapids/

Project Description: Nineteen mineral claims and one mining lease covering a combined area of approximately 4,414 hectares in the Paterson Lake Area.

Frontier Lithium (TSX-V:FL)

Lithium Type: Spodumene

Location: PAK Lithium Project (includes several sites), 175km north of Red Lake, Ont.

Timelines: est. Q3 2026 spodumene concentrate; est. Q2 2028 batterygrade lithium hydroxide from Northern

Ontario conversion plant* https://www.frontierlithium.com/ resource-assets

Project Description: The PAK Lithium Project contains one of North America’s highest-grade, large-tonnage hard-rock lithium resources in the form of a rare low-iron spodumene. Other projects in the area: Spark (spodumene), Bolt (pegmatite), and Pennock (pegmatite).

Green Technology Metals (ASX:GT1)

Lithium Type: Spodumene

Location: Seymour Project (includes several sites), near Armstrong, Ont.; other projects throughout Northwestern Ontario

Timelines: est. H2 2025 spodumene concentrate; est. H1 2027 batterygrade lithium hydroxide from Thunder Bay conversion plant*

Project Description: The Seymour Project hosts numerous lithium targets. Green Technology Metals has recently pegged 439 new mining claims around Seymour for a total ad- dition of 8,941 hectares. Other projects in the region include Root and Wisa west of Thunder Bay. https://www.greentm.com.au/

Rock Tech Lithium (TSX-V:RCK)

Lithium Type: Spodumene

Location: Georgia Lake Project, near Greenstone, Ont.

Timelines: est. 2025 spodumene concentrate; est. early 2026 batterygrade lithium hydroxide from Gruben, Germany conversion plant (plant has broken ground) https://www.rocktechlithium.com/

Project Description: The Georgia Lake Project is divided into two sections, northern and southern spodumene pegmatite areas. Offtake agreements with German car manufacturers for lithium and later lithium hydroxide already in place.

*Except for Rock Tech’s lithium hydroxide plant in Germany, none of the above conversion plant plans are finalized and are subject to change.

Although the mining companies listed within this article are the main players in the lithium space, there are other companies developing mineral resources in the region. These include a number of Australian companies such as: Critical Resources-lithium; https:// www.criticalresources.com.au/),

Battery Age Minerals-lithium, copper, lead/zinc/Germanium, https://batteryageminerals.au/, and Ring of Fire Metals (formed after Wyloo Metals of Perth purchased

Cont’d on pg. 90