Critical minerals chatter from PDACThe Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that for years, mining execs, bankers, investors and politicians gathered in Toronto and bemoan China's head start in the race to build a critical mineral supply chain years before Western countries caught on. The Post's Gabriel Friedman writes that the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada's conference this week that sentiment remains with one key difference: optimism. Now, some panellists are crediting supportive government policies with putting Canada, the United States and other Western nations on track to potentially closing the gap with China. "I want to say this: Give government credit," BMO Capital Markets' Ilan Bahar said in a panel discussion. "Policy has driven the supply side, but we've also seen government step in ... which is great." As recently as a year ago, Mr. Bahar said the average mining executive, banker or investor would have been "very skeptical" that governments would pass such supportive policies. Michael Faralla at TD Securities said investments are only starting to materialize, and cited Quebec as a leader in Canada, but predicted other parts of the country, along with the U.S., would soon see critical mineral ecosystems emerge.
Hmmm , costs to produce these minerals in Canada and the US would be 10x higher than in China... so how is that going to work out ?