Ontario Construction News staff writer
Frontier Lithium has announced a partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation that will see the companies invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the construction of a first-of-its-kind lithium refinery in Thunder Bay.
The companies announced the deal on March 4. The agreement sees Mitsubishi will acquire an initial 7.5 per cent interest in the project for $25 million. That share could rise as high as 25% on completion of the project’s feasibility study.
“At Frontier Lithium, our vision is to become North America’s leading supplier of critical materials. We are grateful for the confidence the Government of Canada has placed in this vision and for its support in developing our lithium conversion facility in Thunder Bay,” said Trevor Walker, President and CEO, Frontier Lithium. “This support will help ensure that we maximize the economic benefits of our natural resources while supporting the global transition to clean energy, and it will strengthen Canada’s position as a leader in in the global race for safe and secure critical minerals.
“We look forward to collaborating with the government as we continue to progress our project.”
The Ontario government praised the announcement, saying it would create hundreds of new, full-time jobs and support Ontario’s emerging end-to-end critical mineral supply chain.
“Ontario’s abundant supply of critical minerals is one of our province’s greatest advantages. We’re so pleased to welcome Frontier Lithium’s interest in expanding its production of strategic battery minerals right here in Ontario, which will support our growing end-to-end critical minerals and electric vehicle battery supply chain,” said Vic Fedeli, minister of economic development, job creation and trade. “By continuing to grow Ontario’s critical minerals industry, we can strengthen our economy and protect Ontario workers and jobs, no matter what.”
Frontier Lithium is working with the provincial and federal governments towards an agreement that would, subject to final conditions, see the company develop and operate a lithium chemicals conversion facility in Thunder Bay.
The multi-hundred-million-dollar PAK Lithium Project is the first fully integrated lithium development initiative in Canada. It supports the Government of Canada’s goal of developing Canadian end-to-end supply chains for critical minerals in the face of an increasingly uncertain world. Frontier’s proposed project aligns with Canada’s priority of supporting the domestic production of critical minerals, including one of the six priority minerals identified in the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy.
Lithium is needed for the manufacturing of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Canada has enough planned lithium, nickel and graphite mines to support all planned domestic EV manufacturing.