Canadian mining firm Snow Lake Lithium has said its newly established mine in Manitoba could play a pivotal role in supporting the North American vehicle manufacturing industry’s shift to electrification.
Claiming to have explored just 1% of its 55,000-acre site, the firm estimates it will be able to extract 160,000 tonnes of 6%-lithium spodumene, which could quickly be transported to key production facilities via the Arctic Gateway railway – potentially saving thousands of tonnes in CO2 emitted by road and sea haulage.
It also plans to operate the site “almost 100%” on hydroelectric power and with electric plant machinery to further enhance its sustainability credentials.
Snow Lake’s proposals have been announced at a particularly pertinent time. Both Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have recently signed memorandums of understanding with the Canadian government to source raw materials for EV production in Canada.
Snow Lake CEO Philip Gross said Canada will find itself “centre stage” as the world transitions to electrification.
He cited the country’s relative abundance of natural resources, which is especially timely, given the US government’s new Inflation Reduction Act. As of 16 August, this mandates that EVs eligible for a federal cash incentive must comprise 40% material sourced from North America or a US trading partner by 2024 and that their batteries can’t contain materials processed by a “foreign entity of concern”.
The expected capacity of Snow Lake’s mine potentially has huge ramifications for the future of the North American car industry, which, like the British one, faces an uncertain time as it seeks to build a stable raw-material supply chain.
“What’s happening with the shortages that we’re experiencing isn’t acceptable economically or politically,” said Gross, highlighting how underdeveloped the European and North American lithium supply chains are compared with the Chinese one.
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