https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/
What will it take for Canada to reach its ambitious critical minerals goals? I was asked that question in Houston at a conference attended by lawyers from across the world on the future of energy.
My answer was that Canada’s preliminary steps towards a viable strategy will require much more significant involvement by the government, including financial support, streamlining approval processes, and removing regulatory barriers, if meaningful progress is to be made.
The following three areas that need prompt attention:
-Reducing overregulation.
-Far greater investment by all levels of government.
-Responding to geopolitical tensions and protectionism.
Overregulation
The issue of overregulation continues to be among the most difficult for Canadian mining companies to overcome. Companies must navigate the complex legal landscape of provincial and federal regulations to take a mining project from concept to production. In addition, the mining sector continues to grapple with the requirement to meaningfully consult Indigenous groups affected by proposed mining projects.
Currently, it can take on average up to 15-25 years to get a mine to its first year of production. This is far too long if Canada wants to fulfil its critical minerals potential. Canadian mining firms continue to face a complex series of overlapping provincial and federal regulatory hurdles for mining projects.
For the rest of this article: https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/featured-article/canada-needs-to-act-with-a-sense-of-urgency-on-critical-minerals/