Only a matter of time before FT gets their government funding, imo. Interesting Canada CM infrastructure fund video session from Dec 15, 2023, found at the bottom of the CM Infrastructure Fund site. Note last paragraph below re signed contribution agreement - imo, FT's application is or will likely be deemed successful, but until there is a fully signed agreement by both parties, also likely that nothing can be said - so a bit more patience is the name of the game. Some salient requirements (all of which I believe FT meets) - for an application to be sucessful for stream 1 funding, three key elements need to be satisfied by project, i.e. in summary,
- increase critical minerals production
- readiness and feasibility
- economic, environmental and indigenous benefits and impacts
Bonus if there is a diversity of critical minerals and aligned with province or territories priorities.
Also, CMIF doesn't prioritize critical minerals, but the six CM's prioritized (e.g. cobalt and copper) in the Canada CM strategy could prove a stronger case for environmental and economic benefits assessments.
If application successful, conditional funding approval will be provided before negotiating a funding agreement. Until a written contribution agreement is signed by both parties, no commitment or obligation exists on the part of NRCAN to make a financial contribution to any project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wepHJzNxn5I https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/critical-minerals-in-canada/federal-support-for-critical-mineral-projects-and-value-chains/critical-minerals-infrastructure-fund1/critical-minerals-infrastructure-fund-contribution-funding.html