Critical minerals: Ottawa retains control of the Russian and Chinese markets

Demand for critical minerals – such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and copper – is exploding because of their important role in the manufacture of smartphones, laptops, wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars, among others.

Thus, the international community seeks to significantly increase global production.

Typically, there is no possible energy transfer without critical minerals, hence the growing importance that advanced economies place on the stability of the supply chain of critical minerals.he wrote in the preface to Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy, a working document which was announced this week.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Mr. Wilkinson pointed out that this stability would only be possible if Western countries prevented the acquisition of global production by states that are not worthy of trust.

” Although we will have an absolute need for these minerals, the fact of being dependent on nations does not always share our views on world affairs, and has demonstrated their ability to once exercise this control of the resources as a weapon, is not a very good strategy. “

In today’s environment, China and Russia are number one and number two in producing and processing many of these minerals. So I think, with an understanding in the democratic world you need to make sure you get a stable source of supply.continued the Minister.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe found itself faced with an oil and gas crisis as it attempted to remove its reliance on Russia’s fossil fuels. For Mr. Wilkinson, this seems like a wake-up call for Western democracies in the critical mineral market.

He added that the West should consider where these critical minerals come from and make sure they can rely on a stable and secure supply chain.

Huge growth potential for Canada

China is currently the world’s largest player in the market. It is the world’s leading producer of half of the 31 minerals and metals defined as critical to its economy.

In the case of Russia, it is among the three largest sources of palladium, scandium and titanium. It produces 10% of the world’s nickel and 6% of all aluminum.

Canada’s strategy focuses on the six minerals and metals identified by the government with the greatest potential for economic growth and job creation. The ones identified are lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements.

So far, Canada does not produce lithium or rare earth elements (of which there are 15), but it does have reserves of these materials.

According to the United States Geological Survey, by 2021 Canada will produce 1% of the world’s graphite, 5% of nickel, 2.5% of cobalt and 2.8% of copper.

Russia is slightly ahead of Canada in each of these markets, except for lithium because it does nothing. China also leads Canada in each of these markets except nickel. It produces 60% of rare earth elements, 82% of graphite, 14% of lithium, 9% of copper and 4% of nickel.

The growth potential for states like Canada is enormous because the World Bank and the International Energy Agency predict that demand for these materials will increase by 500% by 2050.

Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy would be released in the autumn. He noted, however, that the government has already provided an envelope of 4 billion dollars to support it.

An important part of this action plan will focus on increasing production by speeding up the approval of new exploration and mining projects.

The $ 1.5 billion portion will also be allocated to infrastructure because most of these materials are located in isolated regions that are difficult to access.