Originally published in CBC
17 March 2022
EV batteries, smartphones and laptops drive growing demand for nickel, cobalt, lithium, platinum
Premier Doug Ford will unveil plans Thursday for Ontario to capitalize on the growing global demand for minerals that are crucial to technologies such as electric vehicle batteries, smartphones and laptops.
The government provided CBC News with an advance copy of its “critical minerals” strategy, to be publicly released by Ford Thursday morning at a mine north of Thunder Bay.
Critical minerals — including nickel, cobalt, lithium, and platinum — are already a $3.5 billion-a-year industry in Ontario. They’re classed as critical because of their essential role in the production of specialized technologies. Their supply is also typically at higher risk than the rest of the mining sector because of geopolitics and market demand.
Scratch that: Feds to rethink Ring of Fire environmental assessment after First Nations criticism
‘There is no access to critical minerals in Canada without Indigenous Peoples being at the table in a decision-making position,’ Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said
The power of peat: Canada’s secret weapon against climate change
Scientists call them Canada’s Amazon Rainforest, and they could be at risk. Peatlands are ancient ecosystems that cool the planet by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, trapping it deep underground. A quarter of peatlands on Earth are found here in Canada, but some are under threat from potential mining developments aimed at creating technology for a greener future.
There will be no environmental shortcuts taken in the Ring of Fire, says federal minister
Facing down governments and industry, this First Nation makes a promise: There’ll be no development in the Ring of Fire without its consent