Critical and Strategic Mineral Exploration and Development
Emphasis on ‘strategic’
A common theme emerged across many conversations with Québec and Atlantic Canada’s critical mineral explorers in early 2025: at a time of sky-high geopolitical tension, market uncertainty and looming supply deficits, eastern Canada holds many of the resources needed to meet the strategic needs of North America and the wider world – so long as they can be accessed in good time. It represents a shift away from previous years’ primary focus on energy transition-focused mineral markets, towards discussions on self-sufficiency, national security and jurisdictional stability.
Abitibi Metals’ Jon Deluce and Laurent Eustache emphasized the advantages Canada can offer to copper explorers. “Half of the world’s copper supply comes from politically unstable countries. With rising geopolitical risks, there is a strong push for copper projects in stable Tier 1 jurisdictions,” said Deluce, CEO and president. Eustache, executive vice president, added: “With new technologies and improved models, there is an opportunity to unlock value in areas that have been neglected by exploration efforts.”
At the company’s B26 VMS copper-gold property in Québec, a 2024 MRE showed 11.3 million t at 2.13% CuEq indicated, and 7.2 million t at 2.12% CuEq inferred resources, a 60% boost over the project’s previous resource.
The global copper story, by now, is well established. With electrification a key pillar of the fight against climate change, as well as copper’s traditional uses in infrastructure and consumer appliances, demand for the red metal is projected to significantly outstrip supply by 2035. Ivan Fairhall, CEO of ASX-listed copper junior Pivotal Metals, put it so: “Discoveries are becoming rarer, exploration success rates are at all-time lows, and development cycles are increasing. The number of new mines coming online is insufficient to meet projected demand.”
Seeking to bridge that deficit, several companies are pursuing mine restart projects across Québec and Atlantic Canada, which can offer proven resources, lower capital expenditure, and near-term production potential.
FireFly Metals, an Australian-Canadian copper developer, is focusing efforts on the formerly-operating Green Bay copper-gold project in Newfoundland. Work is underway to progress environmental assessments and economic studies for a production restart at the underground mine. FireFly is targeting an annual copper production of 50,000 t, with a new, on-site plant and an agreement with a local port set to resolve operational issues that hampered the project’s previous owner. Firefly CEO, Darren Cooke, said: “Most copper projects being discovered today are porphyries, which will take many years to come online, require billions in capital investment, and are often located in challenging jurisdictions. Newfoundland and Labrador is strongly committed to developing critical minerals. Green Bay is set to be one of few copper mines in the province, making it key to that strategy.”
Cygnus Metals, another ASX-TSX listed junior, has shifted its focus from its lithium project portfolio to copper. Cygnus’ Chibougamau copper-gold project, acquired in its late-2024 merger with Doré Copper, boasts an historic production of 1 million t of copper and 4 million oz of gold, with recent exploration showing intercepts of 7.3m at 4.2% CuEq, and 7.3m at 3.1% CuEq. For Cygnus’ president Ernest Mast, the project’s pre-existing infrastructure offers a clear advantage: “The 2022 PEA outlined an initial capital cost estimate of CA$180 million, ranking among the lowest capital-intensity copper projects currently in development. The hub-and-spoke operation model is supported by existing infrastructure, including a 900,000 t/y processing plant and tailings facilities,” he explained.
"A potential client involved in US Army R&D advised that they conducted a background check to confirm we have no Chinese or Russian ownership." Jean-Sébastien David, President and CEO, Niobay Metals
Lithium: The only way is up?
Amongst Québec at Atlantic Canada’s lithium explorers, the key battery commodity’s depressed price seemingly did little to dampen optimism. There is a confidence in the sector that the challenging fundamentals of early 2025 – a glut of supply following 2022’s exploration boom, mixed with under-expectations demand – will be resolved with time. Global uptake of electric vehicles has continued on a steady, if slower than anticipated, rise, while some lithium producers around the world have begun cutting output in an attempt to right an unbalanced market.
For Francis MacDonald, CEO of Li-FT Power, a Northwest Territories and Québec-focused lithium junior, all that spells a positive future – albeit as a return from rock-bottom: “I believe we are at the bottom of the lithium price cycle. Electric vehicle sales grew by 25% in 2024, and even conservative forecasts project continued double-digit growth. The longer prices remain low, the stronger the eventual rebound will be,” he predicted.
Indeed, for Brunswick Exploration’s president and CEO Killian Charles, this weak moment for the lithium market was an opportunity. “We take a counter-cyclical approach, prioritizing early-stage exploration even in weak markets. While most companies focus on late-stage or infill drilling, Brunswick sees downturns as opportunities – offering less competition, lower costs, and greater flexibility,” maintained Charles.
Through 2024 and the first half of 2025, the company expanded its exploration efforts to Greenland, leveraging a first-mover advantage on the vast island to acquire many prospective properties. In Québec, Charles highlighted advancements including an MRE at Brunswick’s flagship Mirage property to come in 2025, and drilling at its other properties in the province.
At Shaakichiuwaanaan, an Eeyou Istchee-James Bay project boasting the world’s fourth-largest hard rock lithium production capacity globally, and the largest in the Americas, Patriot Battery Metals (PBM) continued its strong development progress in 2024. A PEA published in August 2024 outlined a 24-year mine life at US$593/t AISC, with a feasibility study anticipated for publication in Q3 2025. The company also struck a US$48 million offtake agreement with PowerCo, a Volkswagen subsidiary, in December 2024, which PBM CEO Ken Brinsden suggested shows the automotive industry’s “confidence in long-term lithium demand growth, particularly in North America and Europe.”
Brinsden also looked beyond market fundamentals of lithium when considering the project’s importance: “Developing a local North American supply chain is crucial both economically and geopolitically. It improves efficiency by reducing transportation costs and creates value closer to end markets, while also reducing dependence on China, which processes about 80% of the world’s lithium raw materials,” he said. Graphite: Defense driving demand
At Focus Graphite, CEO Dean Hanisch has pivoted the company to focus on the highly strategic military and defense market, including funding discussions with the US Department of Defense (DoD) and moves to open a US storage and shipping hub. Its natural graphite product is especially well suited to service critical defense uses, Hanisch claimed, given its flake size and purity, and its projects’ proximity to key nodes of the North American defense sector. The company is also developing its own silicon-enhanced battery innovation, which Hanisch envisioned as a future parallel revenue source for Focus. The technology was undergoing testing with New York-based battery company C4V.
Lomiko Metals has also expanded beyond exploring for graphite, with research and development on battery technologies, anode materials and processing techniques. The company has received funding from the US DoD and Canadian government for this work. For CEO Gordana Slepcev, the interest of these strategic stakeholders reflected the multi-faceted benefits of graphite projects: “Critical minerals play a vital role in industrial applications and geopolitical stability. When these projects succeed, everybody benefits – job creation, local community development, and economic and security gains at both provincial and national levels,” she reasoned.
James Cross, CEO of E-Power Resources, laid out the numbers on the strategic importance of North American graphite supply: “To achieve self-sufficiency by 2035, North America will need 40 new graphite mines, yet only 10 potentially impactful projects are in development,” he contended.
At the company’s Tétépisca property – which Cross placed amongst those 10 projects – E-Power is targeting near-term production, with metallurgical testing and bulk sampling underway to determine quality and potential industrial uses.
"Regions such as Nunavik, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador benefit from underexploited mineral wealth, as well as a pool of skilled labor. There is a growing desire to revive the mining of lithium, nickel, and rare earths." Mario Rouillier, President, Groupe Rouillier
Transition metals, for a geopolitical transition
High-purity iron was added to Canada’s critical and strategic minerals list in 2024, making plain the importance of project like Strategic Resources’ BlackRock mine and processing facilities. The company’s phased development plan begins with the construction of a Port Saguenay metallurgical facility, undergoing feasibility study in 2025, which will produce high-purity iron pellets utilizing feed from suppliers like Tacora Resources’ Scully mine in Labrador. Strategic CEO Sean Cleary commented on the project’s international relevance, amid a moment of geopolitical and trade tension with Canada’s southern neighbor: “US tariffs are impacting Canada’s automotive, aluminum, and steel industries, which could affect us. However, we expect increasing demand from Europe, where our low-carbon production is well positioned to meet growing needs,” thanks to a heightened European focus on steel industry decarbonization.
Temas Resources’ CEO Tim Fernback highlighted the potentially fortuitous timing of Temas’ La Blache and Lac Brule titanium projects, which could come online around the same time as long-producing mines like Rio Tinto’s Lac Tio cease operations. Fernback emphasized the strategic importance of a seamless supply transition: “Ukraine holds Europe’s only remaining significant titanium deposits and both China and Russia remain significant global suppliers and refiners of titanium. Current geopolitical conditions make long term access to the strategic metal for Western economies uncertain,” he said, while also welcoming Canadian federal announcements in early 2025 of efforts to streamline permitting processes for critical mineral projects.
For Niobay Metals’ president and CEO Jean-Sébastien David, the current geopolitical moment is of great relevance, with the company’s niobium-tantalum properties offering an alternative to supply chains from countries including China, Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which he regarded as relatively insecure. Indeed, geopolitics and strategy are an explicit topic in Niobay’s conversations with possible customers: “A potential client involved in US Army R&D conducted a background check to confirm we have no Chinese or Russian ownership, which makes our Canadian-based project especially attractive. Our independence and location position us as a secure supply source,” he asserted.
All this seems to confirm a rapid pivot for the critical and strategic mineral sector, reflective of the speed of change in geopolitical conditions over the past year. In the 2024 edition of GBR’s Québec Mining report, the primary focus of this chapter was on these materials’ utility for batteries and the energy transition. While that certainly remains an important element of their supply and demand fundamentals, priorities have shifted.
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