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Do you know where your critical minerals are coming from?

Ottawa provides funding pot for minerals chain of custody projects
Northern Ontario Business Staff
critical-minerals-map
(Government of Canada, Critical Minerals Strategy document)

The Canadian government likes critical minerals that are clean, green and socially responsible.

If critical minerals are key enablers of clean technologies and clean energy sources, why shouldn’t the place where they are sourced from and how they're handled come with a clean slate as well?

Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson is setting out a pot of funding for companies that specialize in tracking, or traceability, technologies that show chain of custody in moving critical minerals through all points in the supply chain. 

The Critical Minerals Traceability Project (CMTP) provides up to $675,000 in funding is available over three years to private-sector, commercial-stage pilot traceability projects for critical mineral supply chains.

The grant will fund up to $100,000 per project per year for up to three years. 

The government said this initiative is driven by due-diligence concerns in critical minerals supply chains. It’s about ensuring transparency and promoting high environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in mining.

The Critical Minerals Centre of Excellence (CMCE), at Natural Resources Canada, is accepting grant applications from Canadian companies that use these technologies. 

Partnerships between the applicant organization and other companies, organizations or levels of government are encouraged but not required, said a government news release.

Those applications deemed successful will “demonstrate the strongest potential to identify ESG credentials, enhance transparency of Canadian supply chains and create value for those chains.” 

The deadline to email applications to CMCE is one second before midnight on Jan. 30.

Successful applicants will be notified next spring.

For any questions or to request an application package (including the Application Guide, Application Form and Budget Form), please contact the CMCE by email at cmce-cemc@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.

"Canada is home to some of the most abundant supplies of critical minerals in the world,” said Wilkinson in a statement. “(This) announcement will help advance Canada's critical minerals supply chain through traceability projects and create conditions to make Canada the clean technology supplier of choice."