SASKATOON-
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be in Saskatoon today to tour a rare earth element processing plant.
Lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and the group of 17 metals and minerals called rare earth elements are priorities for investment in exploration, production and processing under Canada’s strategy for essential minerals, announced by Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson last month.
Critical minerals were also among the issues that Trudeau, US President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador discussed at their summit last week in Mexico.
In 2020, the World Bank predicted that demand for critical minerals – dozens of metals and minerals like lithium and copper that are used in batteries and clean energy generation – will increase by 500% by 2050. .
Canada is not a commercial producer of rare earth elements, although it has some of the largest known deposits.
Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark will be present during Trudeau’s tour of the processing plant, and the prime minister is expected to address the media afterwards.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on January 16, 2023.
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