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While the strategy comes with a list of 31 minerals that the government has deemed as “critical,” the country will initially prioritize six: lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements.
If one of the goals was to attract international investment, then the strategy could be working because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government got BHP’s attention.
“As we are looking to bring new supply to the market quickly, we hope that Canada actually continues to not only focus on the critical minerals strategy but also the efficiency of the regulatory processes associated with that,” said Udd.
Ottawa knows regulation is getting in the way of investment. Jonathan Wilkinson, the natural resources minister, said repeatedly last year that he’s working on making the system more efficient. When he released the critical minerals strategy in December, he acknowledged that permits need to be granted faster, and suggested the federal and provincial governments could conduct reviews concurrently instead of consecutively.
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Of course, BHP’s main focus in Canada currently isn’t on battery metals, but potash, a vital crop nutrient that is also deemed as a critical mineral by the federal government. BHP is currently pressing forward with Jansen, a $7.5-billion project 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon that will be the world’s largest potash mine once completed.
However, judging by BHP’s activities in the last year and Udd’s statements on BHP’s future in Canada, few would be surprised to see the world’s largest miner expand its interests in Canada.
“We are looking to build up on in terms of thematics around decarbonization, electrification and population growth,” Udd said. “We see these as the mega-trends that are going to play out in the next 50 years globally, and we think Canada is well positioned.”