Canada needs to quickly ramp up support for the
nation’s critical minerals industry to counter a “gap” caused by its recent
crackdown on foreign investment, says Frontier Lithium Inc.’s top executive.
The government’s move to limit investment from
state-owned entities into Canada’s critical minerals resources is causing
stress in the mining industry, Chief Executive Officer Trevor Walker said
Tuesday in a BNN
Bloomberg TV interview. Walker, whose firm is exploring for
lithium in northern Ontario, cited the “tightening” of China investment into
Canada as of particular concern.
“That’s a gap that needs to be filled and can only be
filled by government,” he said. “And that has to take place quickly.”
The federal government strengthened rules around
foreign investments in critical minerals last month and ordered three Chinese
firms to sell their stakes in a trio of Canadian lithium explorers. More than
two dozen Canadian miners have investors linked to China, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg.
Mining.com