Canada formally announces Major Projects

[Ben Graham]

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has confirmed the second batch of projects to the country’s Major Projects Office, ones already reported by media outlets this week, as the government seeks to fast-track infrastructure building.

They include Northcliff Resources’ (TSX: NCF) tungsten proposal in New Brunswick, Nouveau Monde Graphite (NYSE: NMG; TSXV: NOU) in Quebec and Canada Nickel (TSXV: CNC) in Ontario, Carney said Thursday in British Columbia.

“Each of these projects that we are referring to the MPO today is transformational, and their impacts will be amplified by being part of bigger national strategies to boost Canada’s competitiveness,” Carney said in Terrace, BC, according to prepared remarks. “The world wants Canada as a reliable supplier of critical minerals to build a more sustainable global economy.”

The federal government formed the MPO in August to speed nation-building ventures through permits. In September, Carney announced the first series of projects being referred to the office for consideration, part of a wider push to develop critical mineral supply chains outside of Chinese and Russian control.

Canada Nickel

Crawford, already touted as a strong contender on Tuesday by the Toronto Star for the new list, is said to hold the world’s second-largest nickel reserves and resources. It would cost C$3.5 billion over two stages, according to a feasibility study from October 2023. Over a 41-year life, the mine would produce 3.5 billion lb. of nickel, 52.9 million lb. of cobalt, 490,000 oz. of palladium and platinum, 58 million tonnes of iron, and 6.2 million lb. of chromium.

Northcliff Resources holds the Sisson tungsten-molybdenum project, which has estimated capital costs of C$579 million for an open-pit mine, concentrator and on-site ammonium paratungstate plant, according to a 2013 feasibility study. The project already has major federal and provincial approvals. New Zealand’s Todd Corp., based in Wellington, is Northcliff’s controlling shareholder with about a 12% interest.

Nouveau Monde is advancing the Matawinie mine and Bécancour battery material plant, both of which are within 150 km of Montreal. The open pit mine is expected to produce 103,000 tonnes of graphite a year over 25 years, the company has said. Federal and provincial funds each granted C$25 million to the roughly C$1.2 billion capex project a year ago.

Earlier projects

The projects referred to the office in September included two copper mines, Foran Mining’s (TSX: FOM) McIlvenna Bay copper mine project in Saskatchewan and the Red Chris copper and gold mine expansion in BC. Red Chris is owned by Newmont (NYSE: NEM; TSX: NGT) and Imperial Metals (TSX: III).

The prime minister was in the BC town of Terrace on Thursday for the announcement on adding the Ksi Lisims LNG project to the list. It proposes a new gas pipeline, a new electricity transmission line and a new floating LNG export plant. It would be Canada’s second-largest with the capacity to export 12 million tonnes of LNG per year to new markets in Asia, Carney said.

It joins a proposed hydroelectric plant in Iqaluit on the list. The Nukkiksautiit Hydro project aims to save C$1.9 billion in diesel costs over 50 years for the Nunavut capital. Ottawa granted the project C$6 million earlier this year.