Alliance Missions - Critical Minerals research

Budget 2023 highlighted Canada’s prime position to be a global supplier of choice for critical minerals that are central to major global industries such as clean technology, auto manufacturing, health care, aerospace and the digital economy. To increase the supply of responsibly sourced critical minerals and support the development of domestic and global value chains for the green and digital economy, Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy was released in December 2022 with the intent of continuing to provide foundational support to Canada’s mining sector to take advantage of existing and emerging opportunities.

Project focus: Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy identified six minerals (lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements (Canada’s Critical Mineral Strategy - Annex B)) initially prioritized for their distinct potential to spur Canadian economic growth and their necessity as inputs for priority supply chains. Furthermore, nine other priority minerals, namely vanadium, gallium, titanium, scandium, magnesium, tellurium, zinc, niobium and germanium, also present significant prospects for the future. This funding opportunity targets research projects that will support the growth of Canadian expertise at every point along the value chain of those fifteen prioritized critical minerals – from exploration to recycling.

LOI's are not required by ORS but reviewing/feedback is available upon request.

NSERC will cover 100% of project costs; awards are valued between $100k-$500k per year for up to three years.