By Lyndon McLean
Critical minerals are used in a range of essential products we use every day, from mobile phones and electric vehicle batteries to solar panels and medical applications. Manitoba is home to 29 of the 31 minerals on Canada’s 2021 critical minerals list, including lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper (which has been mined in the province for over a hundred years), and rare earth elements.
These minerals are crucial for Manitoba’s growth as a low-carbon leader and are essential to developing clean technologies, energy storage systems, electric vehicles, and other technologies that advance net-zero targets.
“Critical minerals provide Manitoba with a new opportunity to focus on mineral resources and attract investments and opportunities,” says MaryAnn Mihychuk, president of the Manitoba Prospectors and Developers Association (MPDA). “That means we generate wealth for our province so our provincial governments that can pay for roads, fix our potholes, build schools, etc. Minerals have the best potential for wealth creation. And the new green economy needs critical minerals.”
Sixty per cent of Manitoba lies within the Canadian Shield, which hosts gold, diamonds, nickel, copper, and lithium. But according to Mihychuk, the province is also fortunate to have a couple of critical minerals in the south.
“If you think about the south minerals, you may think of potash in Saskatchewan. You go along the highway and see potash mines,” she says. “The Saskatchewan government receives between $4 and $6 billion a year on potash royalties alone, nevermind all the supply and services that are part of that economy.”
She goes on to say that Manitoba has that opportunity with silica since the province’s silica deposit is 99. 5 per cent pure, which is needed for computer chips and solar panels. It’s located in the ground in both Winnipeg and in Beausejour, and goes almost all the way over to Brandon. The ability for southern communities to become part of the mineral economy is real, she says, and the door is ready to be opened.
Mihychuk adds that Manitoba needs to be a leader and make the most of this, particularly with the price of silica reaching upwards of $800 per metric ton.
One project on the way to approval is Canadian Premium Sand’s Wanipigow Sand Extraction Project in Seymourville, near the Hollow Water First Nation. This would provide the rare high-purity silica sand needed for solar glass manufacturing. That deposit is at surface in Black Island in Lake Winnipeg, within the Winnipeg Formation. This high-purity silica deposit also provides the whiteness that gives the appearance of snow near Grand Beach, which is a feature that the beach is known for.
“We’re just beginning,” Mihychuk says. “With the project near Beausejour that didn’t get approval, the science was there. They didn’t seem to actually prove it sufficiently to the community to reassure them their water would be protected. But some 12,000 holes have been drilled in these rocks without any water contamination, so that’s important. It’s not like new technology. It’s the same method used for the potash mine or to extract salt, so Manitoba has a history of using solution mining and doesn’t cause pollution.”
She says it may be a case of the neighbouring community to say this is a real opportunity to provide a job for every high school graduate, to have some money for that community centre, or find a doctor and build the community.
Lithium is another mineral the explorers are having success with in the province, with the Tanco mine in Lac du Bonnet being a major source. Grid Metals is also working nearby, and companies such as Foremost Lithium, ACME Lithium, 1911 Gold, and several others are making inroads in the Snow Lake Belt.
Mihychuk notes that the Island Lake region has a lot of potential for critical minerals as well.
“From St. Teresa Point up to Red Sucker, the Ontario border, and over to Cross Lake – in that area, there are over 1, 400 known mineral occurrences. That means companies might have an opportunity to go and check that out,” she says. “We should have 600 companies working in that area, and we have zero. Perhaps once we work with the First Nations, who [must grant approval] must consent to the project along with the provincial government. The First Nations are looking at the industry but really haven’t bought in. Once that happens, and they understand the opportunities available to them, it could change Manitoba’s future in a very bright and positive way.”
In general, the Manitoba Government is very positive on mineral development, in spite of being “stuck with regulatory red tape”, as Mihychuk notes. “Companies are drowning in red tape, but it’s easy to understand how much it would mean to the treasury, so that’s very important.”
The First Nations, on the other hand, haven’t really received much or anything from mineral exploration and mining, which has left them with no benefits in their traditional territory. So, they’re wondering, why should we participate? What does it mean to us?
“But times have changed. Because of their hard work, First Nations have really challenged the Constitution and Section 35 that Pierre Trudeau brought in which recognized Indigenous rights, so there’s a new platform. And our association, the MPDA, is like a small chamber of commerce. We are partnering with First Nations, and it’s our number-one priority for them to become full partners with us,” Mihychuk says.
Mihychuk points to the case of Tahltan First Nation in Northern B.C., who opened up to mineral development and saw benefits. Jerry Asp of Tahltan spoke at the MPDA’s reconciliation gala in March and told of how, in 20 years, they went from 98 per cent unemployment to 100 per cent full employment, with $175 million in a trust account, providing dividends for every member of the First Nation.
“Jerry understands the power of minerals and the money involved, and he’s part of the community,” she says. “He understood that that could mean significant scholarships for the young people to go to school, to become geologists and engineers, environmental scientists, accountants, or lawyers. It’s just transformed the community – and that’s exactly what can happen here.”
She also notes that Matthew Coon Come and the Grand Council of Crees around James Bay, Ontario welcome exploration companies because they understand that only one in 1,000 projects will be successful. In December 2023, they entered into the Kapisikama Agreement, regarding the development and operation of the James Bay Lithium project in Eeyou Istchee, a lithium open-pit mine in the traditional territory of the Cree Nation of Eastmain.
“So, they have 600 exploration companies working in their territories,” Mihychuk says. “You want them to be searching in your area, and if they discover something, they have to negotiate a deal with the First Nations. And the Grand Council has seen massive investments in their communities, the same sort of benefits like the Tahltan.”
Another challenge of moving ahead with critical mineral exploration is the permitting process, which has been arduous. Prospectors, exploration companies, and associations like the MPDA have long lobbied for a smoother, quicker process, one that gives everyone a say and a share but doesn’t take years. Again, Mihychuk points to another region, this one halfway around the world.
“There was an election in New Zealand recently, and the new Prime Minister has come in and said he’s going to reduce permitting to six months. They used to take two years,” she notes. “Now every company in the world is looking to the ‘land of Hobbits’. You’re going to have a very positive, supportive government that can quickly turn over permits, and money will be moving – but that’s not what we want. We want that money to stay here. We want it in Manitoba, right? So, let’s pay attention because the money flows so quickly. We must compete not only with Ontario, but with New Zealand.”
While there are currently almost 50 companies exploring for critical minerals in Manitoba, representing over 70 per cent of all exploration companies operating in the province, Mihychuk says she’s not aware of any Manitoba exploration companies working there. There’s a few of them, and none of them are working on projects in Manitoba. That in itself says something about how the province must change and open things up. Open up the Mines Act – change it, modernize it, and make Manitoba competitive.
Manitoba certainly has critical mineral potential, but the feeling is, it’s underexplored.
“If we can turn the page, if the door opens, we will see significant expansion and prosperity,” Mihychuk notes. “And those companies will come this way. They’ll move where there’s an opportunity They don’t know boundaries.”
