Canada Updates Critical Minerals List

Aug 13, 2024 - one year ago

The Critical Minerals List has been reviewed and updated by Natural Resources Canada, following substantial consultations to develop a more robust critical minerals value chain.

Canada Updates Critical Minerals List
Critical minerals, and the clean technology and energy sources they enable, present a generational economic opportunity for Canada. Canada’s Critical Minerals List is a key resource in determining where to focus Canadian efforts related to sustainable mining exploration and extraction, advanced manufacturing, clean technology, as well as information and communications technologies and semiconductors. Critical minerals are the building blocks for the green and digital economy and demand for them will only grow throughout the global energy transition.

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, has announced that the Critical Minerals List has been reviewed and updated following substantial consultations to focus our efforts in developing robust critical minerals value chains.

“By updating Canada's Critical Minerals List, we are taking a proactive step to ensure that Canada's efforts to seize the generational economic opportunity presented by our critical minerals wealth is well informed by the most accurate market trends, geopolitical factors and science,” stated The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.

To determine which minerals are considered critical, Canada released its first Critical Minerals List in March 2021 with a commitment to review the minerals identified as critical every three years. The list guides federal policy and programs and signals government areas of priority to stakeholders. Public consultations took place with provincial and territorial governments, other government departments, industry, Indigenous groups and other interested or affected stakeholders.

“Investments in critical minerals projects create good jobs for workers, more avenues for Canadian innovation and lower emissions across the country — all of which form an important part of our plan to build a cleaner Canada and a prosperous, sustainable economy,” the minister continued.

An analysis was undertaken to review all minerals included in the 2021 Critical Minerals List and consider potential candidates for addition. These analyses resulted in an updated Critical Minerals List that retains all 31 minerals from the 2021 list and an additional three minerals, namely high-purity iron, phosphorous and silicon metal, for a total of 34 critical minerals. These materials are integral to a variety of products, critical to the energy transition are often those in short supply and they are those that are critical to our future economic prosperity.

For example, silicon metal is essential to the manufacture of chips and semiconductors, used in almost any and everything electronic. High-purity iron ore is essential to green steel and integral to decarbonization. Phosphorus combined with potash is essential for food security through the production of fertilizers. Phosphorus can also be used in Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries, another strategic opportunity in the EV value chain for Canada.

Critical minerals are the foundation on which modern technology is built upon. They’re used in a wide range of essential products, from mobile phones and solar panels to electric vehicle batteries and medical applications. By building critical minerals value chains, Canada can be the global supplier of choice for critical minerals and the clean energy and technology sources they enable.

Canada’s critical minerals
Critical minerals are the foundation upon which modern technology is built. They are used in a wide range of essential products ranging from mobile phones and solar panels to electric vehicle batteries, medical devices and defence applications. Canada’s critical minerals list identifies 34 minerals and metals.

Aluminum
Antimony
Bismuth
Cesium
Chromium
Cobalt
Copper
Fluorspar
Gallium
Germanium
Graphite
Helium
High-purity iron
Indium
Lithium
Magnesium
Manganese
Molybdenum
Nickel
Niobium
Phosphorus
Platinum group metals
Potash
Rare earth elements
Scandium
Silicon metal
Tantalum
Tellurium
Tin
Titanium
Tungsten
Uranium
Vanadium
Zinc

First released in 2021, the list was updated in 2024 in consultation with provinces and territories; as well as exploration, mining and manufacturing industries and associations; and Indigenous organizations and communities. New to the list in 2024 are three minerals:

High-purity iron — Essential to green steel making and decarbonization
Phosphorus — Essential for batteries and food security
Silicon metal — Essential for semiconductors and computer chips

What makes them critical
To be considered a critical mineral in Canada, a mineral must meet both of the following criteria:

the supply chain is threatened
there is a reasonable chance of the mineral being produced by Canada

It must also meet one of the following criteria:

be essential to Canada’s economic or national security
be required for the national transition to a sustainable low-carbon and digital economy
position Canada as a sustainable and strategic partner within global supply chains

Our future depends on critical minerals
Critical minerals are the building blocks for the green and digital economy as they are used in products such as:

Wind turbines and solar panels
Electric vehicles and charging stations
Drones and satellites
Smartphones and laptops
Data centres and mobile networks

Canada’s critical minerals list supports three primary value chains outlined in the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy.

Advanced manufacturing

Additive manufacturing
Advanced materials
Industrial internet of things

Clean technologies

Batteries and zero-emission vehicles
Renewable energy generation and transmission
Permanent magnets

Information and communications technologies

Compound semiconductors
Telecommunications

Critical mineral development across Canada
Critical mineral mines, smelters, refineries or advanced projects are located in all Canadian provinces and territories, except for Prince Edward Island.

Source: Government of Canada