Automotive News Canada - January 2023 - 11

* JANUARY 2023
11
Canada's minerals advantage over
the United States? Regulatory speed
Canada's
resource-heavy
history is giving
it a leg up over
its neighbour
to the south.
AS THE NORTH AMERICAN
auto industry scrambles for
local sources of battery minerals
to meet ravenous electric-vehicle
demand, the first
in a series of Canadian lithium
mines is scheduled to begin
ramping up production.
Before the year is out, the
North American Lithium mine
in Val-d'Or, Que., is expected
to be sending shipments of
the highly
sought battery
metal
to Tesla.
The
milestone,
which
comes as
similar
projects in
the United
States sit
in regulatory or legal limbo,
illustrates how Canada's
resource-heavy history is giving
the country a leg up over
its neighbour to the south.
In fact, the Quebec mine's
tie-up with Tesla came at the
direct expense of the United
States.
Piedmont Lithium Inc., a
co-developer of the Quebec
project, struck an initial supply
deal with Tesla in 2020. It
had planned to ship lithium to
the EV maker from another of
its developments in North
Carolina starting in mid-2022.
But permitting issues at that
DAVID
KENNEDY
TORONTO
BUREAU
CHIEF
project have led to years of
delays, and Piedmont does
not expect to start production
in the state before 2026.
On Jan. 3, the U.S.-based
miner and Tesla signed an
amended deal that would see
production from the North
American Lithium mine fill the
gap.
Piedmont's long-delayed
North Carolina site is far from
the only U.S. mine crawling
through the approval process.
Vancouver-based Lithium
Americas Corp., which is
developing what could
become the largest lithium
mine in North America, has
been similarly mired in a slow
march toward production. The
company completed a
pre-feasibility study for its
Thacker Pass lithium project
in 2018. It aimed to start
construction on the mine in
2020 and be in production by
2022.
Despite its location in relatively
mining-friendly Nevada,
the project was not approved
until the start of 2021, during
former President Donald
Trump's final days in office.
The development has since
faced legal challenges. After a
hearing Jan. 4, a court decision
that will determine the
fate of the latest appeal from
a consortium of opponents is
expected in " the next couple
months, " according to Lithium
Americas.
The company has not
updated its development
timeline since the hearing but
said in December that construction
on the Thacker Pass
project would start in 2023.
Automotive actors, among
others, have taken notice of
the circuitous approval processes
in the United States.
In August, Ford Motor Co. and
Rivian Automotive Inc. called
for speedier signoffs for battery-mineral
mining projects.
But so far, there are few signs
of meaningful change in
Washington.
In Canada, where mining
typically falls under provincial
jurisdiction and resource
extraction has remained an
important part of the economy,
progress has been
smoother. Several lithium-mining
developments
across Quebec, Ontario and
Manitoba look likely to follow
the mine near Val-d'Or into
production over the next two
or three years.
As part of the federal critical-mineral
strategy released
in December, Ottawa also
aims to speed up environmental
assessment processes
to get mines into production
quicker. Even without these
changes, Canada's existing
regulatory processes have
allowed the country to put its
nose ahead in the race to
propel North America's EV
transition. - ANC
Ontario supply-chain
news expected in Q1
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
viewed as the front-runner.
In 2022, Ontario attracted EV supply-chain
investments that included a $5-billion battery-cell
plant in Windsor, a joint venture
between Stellantis and LG Energy Solution.
In addition, Belgium-based Umicore N.V.
chose the Kingston area as the site for a
$1.5-billion battery-materials plant.
'A REALLY FULL PIPELINE'
Fedeli, as well as his federal counterpart,
Francois-Philippe Champagne, have met with
auto executives in Europe and Asia in a bid to
sell Canada as the ideal destination for their
mines-to-mobility EV investments.
Meetings have been held with Volkswagen,
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Honda,
along with battery makers such as Panasonic,
Fedeli said.
" So, we have a really full pipeline of leads
that we're developing, " he said. " And I would
hope that we have positive news coming out
of all of our sales meetings sometime in the
first quarter. "
Fedeli, who represents the Northern
Ontario provincial riding of Nipissing, said
he is " working very hard with companies
around the world to ... [put] a conversion
facility to make lithium hydroxide in Ontario,
because that's where the lithium is.
" I'll be darned if those rocks get up and
leave. They should be processed in northern
Ontario. "
Asked whether 2023 will surpass 2022 when
it comes to winning automotive investments,
Fedeli said Northern Ontario's reserves of
critical minerals, such as lithium and nickel,
are the province's " ace in the hole in luring
companies to Ontario. "
When permitting problems slowed progress on a lithium
project in North Carolina, North American Lithium's mine
in Quebec was called upon to supply Tesla. FILE PHOTO
Announcements involving lithium mining
and processing investments " are coming, " he
said. - ANC
- With files from Greg Layson
Quarter-Page CANADA Auto News Ad for MID-JANUARY 2022 publication - (Due JAN. 4)
A first look at Project Arrow's side profile reveals short overhangs
that inevitably benefit passenger room. Visually, the stepped
horizontal cut lines in the body break up the tall slab sides.
PHOTO: APMA
JOE VERDE
WORKSHOPS
Arrow needs 'deep pockets'
to make a production vehicle fly
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
Ontario government chipped in
$1.8 million and the government
of Quebec committed $1.4 million
to several companies based in the
province.
Project Arrow's unveiling at
CES follows a soft launch for suppliers
and other key partners Dec.
20 in Markham, Ont.
CANADIAN CAN-DO ON TOUR
At the Markham event, Volpe
told Automotive News Canada
that Project Arrow's main purpose
is to give the participating
components and software companies
a platform to highlight their
automotive expertise. Ultimately,
he said, he wants " every one of
these companies to get business
directly from this showcase. "
" CES is the beginning, " Volpe
said. " This is going to be on a
two-year tour - auto shows, tech
demonstration centres, but also
direct visits to OEMs. "
While drumming up business
for suppliers has been the priority
of Project Arrow, Volpe said
throughout the three-year design
and build process the APMA has
fielded calls from unidentified
automotive players interested
in taking the concept into production.
Volpe said that would
require a backer with " deep pockets "
but he did not rule out building
more than one Arrow.
" If someone makes a bet on
it and that is a sustainable bet, "
Volpe said, " we'd work with
them. " - ANC
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Automotive News Canada - January 2023

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