A Canadian mining company will announce plans Thursday for two new processing facilities that its CEO says will provide the 'missing link' in Ontario's plans for building a full-fledged electric vehicle industry.Premier Doug Ford's government is trying to position Ontario as a start-to-finish location for electric vehicle manufacturing, from mining the materials for EV batteries, forging the steel for the vehicle bodies, to final assembly.
"We're going to see nickel demand double or triple over the next 10 years as we gear up battery production here in North America," said Mark Selby, chief executive of Canada Nickel, in an interview with CBC News.into production incentives for EV battery plants located in southern Ontario, which could be fed by minerals from northern Ontario.
"The key piece that's missing is this first-stage conversion, after you take the products from the mine and then turn them into a usable product," he said. "Being able to provide that processing capacity that provides that missing link is vitally important."Ontario's Minister of Mines George Pirie calls the plan a tremendous opportunity that takes advantage of the province's mineral resources.