Canada must build strategic resilience
The step was taken at a time when Western economies were contemplating ways to redesign their supply chains, which took a hit during the pandemic. Canada’s finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, in various speeches last year stressed the need for “ Ottawa is also spending heavily on clean technology. But the U.S. approach also involves sticks, such as a ban exports of certain technology to Chinese companies. As a few Canadian companies found out, their government is also willing to reshape supply chains through government order.All three miners found new investors, so one might assume that no harm was done. However, Ultra Lithium indicated that it would have been in a better position if it had stuck with its Chinese partner.
It’s difficult to assess if the deal leaves Ultra in a better or worse position. Ultra sold Laguna for 25 million Power shares and 25 million “performance rights,” which can be converted to 25 million shares if a resource study indicates that the property contains a mineral estimate of two million tonnes or greater with a decent concentration of lithium. So, Ultra Lithium will own about 25 per cent of Power Minerals as soon as the deal goes through.
Power was the first of the three to replace its Chinese investor, as it fairly quickly teamed with Winsome Resources, which in December agreed to buy Sinomine’s 5.6 per cent stake in Power Metals for $2 million. In March, Winsome almost doubled their investment and currently owns about 10 per cent of Power.