Ottawa is finally getting ready to accept applications for a C$1.5-billion infrastructure fund to support critical minerals mines, with stakeholders in Ontario’s Ring of Fire hoping they will be among the recipients.announced Tuesday that projects eligible to apply for the new Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund include clean energy and transportation projects that support critical minerals mines.
Companies can apply for up to C$50-million in funding, while provincial and territorial governments can request up to C$100-million for public projects. Moreover, given the narrative the government espouses about how “we need to capture this generational opportunity in critical minerals” and better compete with the United States, which is spending hundreds of billions through the Inflation Reduction Act, the ability to follow through is key, Ms. Koutsavlis said.
Qasim Saddique, principal consultant at Suslop, has been working with Marten Falls of Northern Ontario, which is leading federal environmental impact assessments into proposed roads into the Ring of Fire and co-leading another assessment alongside Webequie First Nation. The roads would connect both the two Indigenous communities and the isolated Ring of Fire mining camp to the provincial highway network some 300 kilometres to the south. The road project was last estimated to cost C$2-billion.