To provide the building blocks of 21st century technology, Saskatchewan releases Critical Mineral Strategy

 

SASKATOON – Critical minerals, the crucial ingredients for everything from cellphones to electric vehicles, are all the rage right now. And in a global race, Saskatchewan is staking its claim, figuratively and literally, in the development of many of these critical minerals.

On Monday, March 27, the Government of Saskatchewan has launched Securing the Future: Saskatchewan’s Critical Minerals Strategy to drive growth and development of the sector in the province.

The announcement comes just a few days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden released a joint statement that went into substantial depth on critical minerals. That joint statement said, “Canada and the United States will work together to create a strong, environmentally responsible, and resilient North American critical minerals supply chain. We are committed to identifying, securing, and developing critical minerals extraction, processing, manufacturing, and recycling opportunities in both countries to diversify supply chains essential to clean energy, electric vehicles, semiconductors, aerospace, and defense, among other sectors, that meet strong environmental, sustainability, worker, health and safety, Indigenous and Tribal consultation and partnership, and community engagement standards.”

To that end, Saskatchewan is positioning itself to be a key supplier.

“Saskatchewan is a critical minerals leader today and will be a critical minerals powerhouse tomorrow,” Premier Scott Moe said in a release on March 27. “With our existing expertise in mining and processing, our province has the opportunity to become a critical minerals hub and meaningfully contribute to the global demand for these resources.”

In the message from the premier foreword in the document, Moe said, “In a time of geopolitical volatility and disruption of supply chains, there is a global race on to source strategic minerals that are essential to the economy, national security, and everyday life – minerals that are used in the production of everything from clean energy to consumer electronics.

 

“With occurrences in the province of 23 of the 31 critical minerals on Canada’s list, Saskatchewan has an opportunity to contribute to meeting the global critical mineral demand for potash, uranium, helium, lithium, copper, zinc, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements.

“While Saskatchewan has long been a top global producer and exporter of potash and uranium, the province is now home to a burgeoning helium sector and to the first-of-its-kind minerals-to-metals rare earth processing facility in North America.”

The critical minerals strategy supports the objectives set out in the Saskatchewan Growth Plan. The strategy outlines four goals for the sector: to increase Saskatchewan’s share of Canadian mineral exploration spending to 15 per cent by 2030, to double the number of critical minerals being produced in Saskatchewan by 2030, to grow Saskatchewan’s production of potash, uranium and helium, and to establish Saskatchewan as a rare earth element hub.

Minerals are considered critical when they’re necessary for key products and industries and subject to supply chain disruptions. Uranium, potash, rare earth elements, lithium and helium are just a few of the critical minerals found in abundance in Saskatchewan, the government said.

“Critical minerals will be a key economic driver for Saskatchewan,” Energy and Resources Minister Jim Reiter said. “Explorers and developers are ready to step up to meet the surging demand around the world, and our province has an important role to play.”

“Saskatchewan is uniquely positioned on a global scale to provide key critical minerals to the world and build a secure, stable and sustainable value chain at home,” Trade and Export Development Minister Jeremy Harrison said. “This is a significant opportunity to create jobs and wealth for people in Saskatchewan communities, that is an example of growth that works for everyone.”

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Reasons

The strategy cites three main reasons why governments and companies in Canada and the United States “are in a race to explore for, mine, process, refine, and manufacture these minerals.”

“They are of strategic importance to economic and national security, and they are also vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions. They are key inputs in renewable power generation, clean electricity technologies, and EVs.

“They are essential for electronic devices and other products we commonly use.

An example given is a smart phone, noting there are “14 different critical minerals in a smartphone.”

 

The strategy notes the critical roles of fertilizer in potash, uranium in nuclear power as “clean electricity,” rare earth elements (REE) in electronics, and helium in space travel and research.

Indeed, last fall, Saskatoon-based Royal Helium announced that a sizeable portion of its upcoming helium production, first from Alberta, then Saskatchewan, will be used for space travel by a major space operator.

The strategy quotes White House FACT SHEET: Securing a Made in America Supply Chain for Critical Minerals, saying, “As the world transitions to a clean energy economy, global demand for these critical minerals is set to skyrocket by 400-600 percent over the next several decades, and, for minerals such as lithium and graphite used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, demand will increase by even more—as much as 4,000 percent.

Minister of Energy and Resources speaks

In many ways, the strategy builds on programs already in play, be it the Helium Action Plan, Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Processing Investment Incentive, the establishment of international trade offices and more. It brings them together into a more cohesive, overall framework.

But there are really only three new or expanded key initiatives identified in the plan. Those three government programs were also expanded in the 2023 provincial budget to pave the way for critical minerals development.

The Saskatchewan Mineral Exploration Tax Credit was increased from 10 to 30 per cent and the Targeted Mineral Exploration Incentive, which applies to exploration drilling of all hard-rock minerals, was increased from $750,000 to $4.0 million. In addition, $2.4 million was also dedicated to provide better systems for geoscience data collection and reporting, which explorers use when considering projects.

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Reiter spoke to Pipeline Online on March 27.

With regards to the $4 million, he noted that it might not go very far drilling oil wells, but its different for mining exploration. “These exploratory wells for mining don’t cost near as much. You’re looking more in the neighborhood that $4 million will probably drill 40 exploratory wells. So it’s significant, you know, those that many test holes that they’re doing, that could be the difference between finding something that sets off a new mine or not. So industry was happy with this amount as well.”

On the additional money for geosciences, Reiter said besides the dollar amounts helping exploration companies, “That’s going to give them a lot of information to start with. We think it’s going to be really, really beneficial to them.”

While lithium and potash, as examples, benefit from flow-through shares as a financial tool to raise capital, helium does not. Reiter said he has been lobbying federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson a lot on including helium when it comes to flow-through shares.

“So I guess we’ll see if we’ve been heard, they don’t always listen to us. But hopefully,” Reiter said.

“We’re very fortunate in Saskatchewan. When you look at critical minerals, we’ve got 23 out of 31 that are listed in Canada. To your point on, the trade offices and I would say just perfect example is when premiers in the US in Washington, he’s promoting this. I promote it at every opportunity I get.

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“We’ve got an opportunity here, as the world moves towards more batteries. They need these critical minerals and you know, we want to be in the forefront of everybody’s mind. Whether it’s rare earth that’s getting more attention now, or even the ones that have been so important for so long, in Saskatchewan, potash and uranium. You look at the geopolitical situation in the world today and we want our allies around the world. when they’re looking at critical minerals to be thinking about Saskatchewan.”

It’s one thing to explore and produce these critical minerals. It’s another thing to sell it. And that’s where Saskatchewan’s growing fleet of international trade and investment offices will be employed.

The Province announced Premier Scott Moe will also be attending the Securing America’s Future Energy Summit in Washington, D.C. March 28-29. At the summit, the premier will profile Saskatchewan’s new strategy and participate in a panel discussion to highlight opportunities in Saskatchewan to an international audience.​

Oil and gas are not part of this Critical Mineral strategy, according to Reiter. “It’s targeted at the mining folks.”

Asked if these initiatives were the beginning or the end of the province’s efforts on critical minerals, Reiter responded, “I would very much say it’s the beginning. It’s the overarching framework that we’re going to use as, as we try to promote these industries.

Noting there was nothing imminent, he added, “As we see how this develops, and how the exploration work goes, which we’re confident that this is going to spur a lot more exploration work, if it makes sense to make some changes, we obviously will look at that.”

“The other thing I think that would be beneficial here is the work that not in my ministry, but Environment is going to do, to look at the whole permitting process to try to streamline that. They’ve got a target on that, to try to reduce permitting times. They’re going to do a thorough review of that. So that’s well received by industry today as well.”

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Mining association

“As Saskatchewan competes for Canadian and international investments, the increases to the Targeted Mineral Exploration Incentive Program and to the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, are very welcome,” Saskatchewan Mining Association President Pam Schwann said in a release. “They position Saskatchewan to be one of the leading Canadian mineral jurisdictions and will be effective in incentivizing additional investment into Saskatchewan.”

 

Double down

The strategy seeks to essentially double Saskatchewan’s piece of the Canadian mineral exploration pie. In 2021, we saw 7.4 per cent of mineral exploration spending, and 8.5 per cent in 2022. This strategy seeks to bring that up to 15 per cent.

The strategy notes, “Exploration is an important first stage in the mineral development process. Investment in exploration drives the discovery and advancement of mineral projects which are needed to develop new mines, as well as establishing and growing the critical minerals value-chain.”

Another goal is to double the number of critical minerals produced, noted, “Beyond existing production of potash, uranium, and helium, Saskatchewan has the potential to advance significant projects in lithium, copper, zinc, REEs, nickel, and cobalt to production.”

Several existing programs are listed. Examples include:

“New base and precious metal mines beginning commercial production are eligible for a 10-year royalty holiday.

“Royalties on base and precious metal production are not payable until after the holiday period and the royalty payer has recovered 150 per cent of its initial costs of exploration and development.”

The establishment of the Saskatchewan Research Council’s (SRC) rare earth element hub in Saskatoon is a crucial part of the strategy, especially when it comes to the sheer number of minerals that are considered critical.

“The Saskatchewan Research Council houses some of the world’s leading experts in REE processing and separation technologies. In addition to its extensive expertise in REEs, the SRC is home to the first minerals-to-metals rare earth processing facility in North America.

The SRC will continue to play a foundational and leading role in establishing Saskatchewan as a REE hub. The SRC’s expertise, and the future opportunities presented by its processing facility, will capture increased value from REE’s and serve as a catalyst for commercial scale private sector investment and development.

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In the past five years, 12 companies have undertaken nickel exploration activities in the province, while four have explored for cobalt. Since 2018, 20 companies have performed copper exploration activities in the province.

This will include encouraging private sector development as well as securing reliable supplies of critical minerals for Canada and its allies.

Opportunity highlights

Several minerals are highlights for the opportunities they present.

“One copper project is approaching a construction decision and is projected to be the world’s first carbon-neutral copper mine, with an initial capital cost of $368 million and is projected to produce an average of 34.5 million pounds of copper annually over an 18-year mine life, based on current mineral reserves. The project also plans production of 58.6 million pounds of zinc annually.

Deposits like these are known to occur in clusters, thus there is strong potential for additional discoveries that could lead to further development in the project area.”

 

On lithium, it said, “Over the last two years, the Government of Saskatchewan has expanded the Oil and Gas Processing Investment Incentive (OGPII) and the Saskatchewan Petroleum Innovation Incentive (SPII) programs to allow the inclusion of eligible helium and brine lithium projects, which will help further accelerate the development of the lithium and helium sectors in the province.”

“Lithium is used in rechargeable batteries for EVs and electronics such as laptops, cell phones, and grid storage. Demand for lithium-ion batteries has grown significantly in recent years, driving global exploration and enabling new lithium projects to be considered,” the strategy said.

Additionally, “Copper is an essential ingredient for electricity transmission, EVs, and many other emerging and clean technologies such as solar cells. As EVs become more affordable and widely used, there will be an increasing need for copper.”

“Nickel and cobalt are used in manufacturing rechargeable batteries, while nickel is also used in the production of stainless steel. Demand for both is projected to increase more than 40 per cent by 2030.”

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Indigenous involvement

The document noted, “The Saskatchewan Growth Plan identifies the important goal of growing Indigenous participation in Saskatchewan’s natural resource industries. As the Government of Saskatchewan is committed to economic reconciliation and increasing Indigenous economic opportunities, the Province launched the Saskatchewan Indigenous Investment Finance Corporation (SIIFC) in 2022.

“The SIIFC will increase economic opportunities for Indigenous communities and organizations wanting to invest in natural resource and value-added agriculture projects in the province by providing up to $75 million in loan guarantees (with minimum loan guarantees of $5 million) to eligible applicants. This program will support Indigenous-equity ownership of major projects, including in the mining industry.”

“The Government of Saskatchewan will undertake a review of environmental exploration permitting with the goal of enhancing transparency and improving the efficiency of processes. Building on recent actions that have included the reallocation of staffing resources, enhancing data management, and working collaboratively with industry on more flexible permitting options. This new initiative will increase understanding and awareness within northern First Nations and Métis communities about the mineral exploration industry and support sustainable growth within the province. The initiative will also enhance client support for the mineral exploration industry.”

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