Manitoba releases critical minerals strategy

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This article was published 25/07/2023 (814 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba has a mining legacy that’s more than a century old, but it’s taken the realities of climate change and the demand for critical minerals from the electric vehicle industry for the provincial government to focus real attention and resources on reviving the industry’s importance to the provincial economy.

Tuesday the province released the Manitoba Critical Minerals Strategy, which outlines all the ways the province plans to support the industry with the goal of reviving the reputation Manitoba had not so long ago as being one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world.

With 29 of the 31 critical mineral designated by the federal government known to exist under the ground in Manitoba, government and industry officials alike believe the time is right for the province to make a move.

Premier Heather Stefanson said, “Manitoba is the Costco of critical minerals. If you need it we have it.”

She said Alberta has the oilsands, Saskatchewan has potash and for too long Manitoba has been considered a “have-not” province.

“Manitoba has an abundance of critical minerals,” she said. “It’s time to make Manitoba a ‘have’ province. Let’s build our own success story.”

The announcement comes during the busiest summers the mining industry has experienced in Manitoba for some time. Last week two mammoth new mineral resources were announced and in June the province’s first ever potash mine, Potash and Agri Development Corporation of Manitoba (PADCOM), started pilot production.

The strategy addresses the full range of the mineral discovery-to-extraction life cycle, including skills training needs, Indigenous partnerships and, perhaps most important, a streamlining of the permitting process.

Stefanson said it only took her government a year and a half (since she became premier) to arrive at this important strategy commitment.

It was her predecessor, Progressive Conservative premier Brian Pallister, who committed the unforced error of decimating the province’s geology team to help balance the budget. This significantly undermined the capacity to support new exploration work as well as hampering the ability to establish consultations with First Nations, to whom there is a constitutional duty to consult on resource projects.

While there are no magic bullets in the strategy’s six pillars, industry leaders were enthusiastic about the potential impact it could have.

John Morris, co-director of the Mining Association of Manitoba, said his group was pleased to be part of the working group that helped put the strategy together.

“Manitoba is blessed with a bounty of metals and minerals,” he said. “I believe we are just at the start of something big, something that will really change our province.”

While details and any costs involved will be worked out at a later date, the six pillars of the strategy are: raise awareness of Manitoba’s significant critical minerals advantage; advance Indigenous partnerships; support geoscience research; streamline regulatory processes; attract value-added processing and manufacturing; and train a skilled workforce.

There are currently about 60 mining and exploration companies active in the province including close to 20 looking for lithium. Exploration spending is expected to be close to $170 million this year, close to double 2021’s total.

Last week, Grid Metals Corp. announced the discovery of a seven-million tonne lithium resource near Lac du Bonnet. A few days before that, Callinex Mines Inc. announced a copper zinc resource larger than any previous discovery in the province, including ones that resulted in mines.

Both of them are so-called maiden resources, meaning their presence had not been previously indicated in the geological survey data.

Robin Dunbar, CEO of Grid Metals, said the lay of the land in Manitoba is very conducive to the current global demand for the discovery of critical minerals including six minerals seen as having the greatest opportunity to spur economic growth and fuel domestic supply chains: lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements.

Dunbar said, “Manitoba has tremendous advantages when it comes to the demand for critical minerals. There is great geological prospectivity, green hydroelectricity, an educated workforce, great infrastructure, First Nations willing to engage with industry, a strong academic community and great geoscientists.”

The province has already taken steps to address some of the strategy’s approaches. Last year it committed $5 million to re-staff the mines branch and officials say it has gone a long way toward establishing predictability in the permitting process. It also announced more than $40 million to sector councils which take leadership roles in launching regional and sectoral training programs to meet intermittent labour demands.

Stefanson used the announcement — coming about three months before a provincial election — to take a jab at legacy NDP commitments regarding fossil fuel and other mineral extractions.

But Tom Lindsey, NDP critic for natural resources and northern development, said “For seven years, Heather Stefanson has failed on mining in our province. Stefanson and Pallister’s cuts meant Manitoba went from the second best mining jurisdiction in the world in 2016 to 32nd in 2021. That’s their record. Since 2017, three mines in Manitoba have closed.”

The mining sector is subject to cyclical resource prices and activity in many jurisdictions rise and fall but industry officials agree that new discoveries like Callinex’s and Grid Metals’ — even though they are years away from being able to become producing mines — turn heads among global industry investors.

MaryAnn Mihychuk, a former NDP cabinet minister and current president of Manitoba Prospectors and Developers Association, said while she’ll keep looking for concrete action, the strategy is an important signal.

“It shows this is a government that understands the importance of the sector,” she said. “It gives the market the assurance that there are people at high levels that understand the importance of critical minerals. And the Premier is on board. That is important. Sometimes we have not had that kind of attention from the top.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca