The Thunder Bay CEDC hopes mining companies will take notice and work together.
THUNDER BAY — A new study has identified significant regional economic opportunities through the use of hydrometallurgical processing in Northwestern Ontario.
The Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission, which released the report, calls hydrometallurgy a state-of-the-art technology that could provide big benefits to the city.
John Mason, mining services project manager for the CEDC, said it uses water and chemicals – and sometimes pressure – to essentially dissolve metals from rock and "bring it up to a refined process for the manufacturing and industrial sector."
Mason said there are advantages over traditional methods.
"You get right to the metals very quickly, without a couple of stages. There's less deleterious environmental consequences based on historical types of extraction which often involve smelting or burning of ore...This is more innovative, more modern, and has less of a footprint in terms of air and water emissions."
The CEDC launched the study in an effort to stimulate industry interest and further investigations into the potential for a copper-nickel producing hydrometallurgical facility in the city.
Mason noted that Northwestern Ontario, Minnesota and Michigan are blessed with world-class copper-nickel-palladium deposits, many of which are on the cusp of production.
"Thunder Bay is well-positioned to process the mineralization from these deposits and produce green critical minerals for a modern climate-conscious society," he said.
The CEDC cites the city's central location, skilled labour pool, established mining support industries, low-carbon electricity, available water, and strong transportation links, saying it's ideally situated to supply the North American demand for metals required by the green economy including electric cars.
In economic terms, the report says analysis to date shows it is "extremely likely" that hydrometallurgical processing in Thunder Bay would compare favourably to the customary approach of selling concentrate to an existing smelter complex in another city.
It recommends industry consider adding a study of the various hydrometallurgical technologies to any of their developmental studies.
It also calls on mining firms to consider the advantages of a centralized processing facility to serve two or even more mines and companies.
"We don't need four or five metallurgical facilities on the Great Lakes. Probably one is required," Mason said. "That could be a custom or toll-type facility. One company could take the lead and build it, or work in joint venture with other emerging projects."
He pointed to the Clean Air Metals project north of Thunder Bay and the Generation Mining project near Marathon as developments that could potentially feed concentrate to a facility in the city.
"This is emerging. Palladium is a clean-air metal and copper/nickel are critical metals, whether it be for battery storage, electric vehicles, critical metals for aerospace in general, telecommunications, you name it."
Mason added "At the end of the day, this will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deal with climate change to create a solution on the back of key metals."