This article originally appeared in The Hill Times.
Being a mining superpower isn’t just about mining the most. It’s also about having the ability to supply the material needs of our allies in a reliable and secure manner.
As the world’s second-largest country, Canada, in theory, has the world’s second-largest mineral bounty. But we also have difficult geography and burdensome processes. In the past few decades, we’ve punched well below our weight, losing market share across a variety of critical minerals and products. Canada has unfulfilled mining potential.
The silver lining is that as our allies and trading partners look to secure their raw material needs—for the digital economy, the energy transition, defence supply chains, you name it—Canada still has vast untapped reserves that it can develop to satisfy those needs. With just 41 million people, we have more than we could ever use ourselves.
We can be that arsenal of democracy, providing the critical minerals needed for our allies’ supply chains. This begs the question: why aren’t we a bigger player already? Growing the mining sector is not as easy as deciding to dig up more rocks. The industry is highly competitive and mining is capital intensive, often requiring long timelines to realize returns.
For the rest of this article: https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/canada-should-be-a-mining-superpower-too-heather-exner-pirot-in-the-hill-times/