Canada could replace China in rare earth supplies if it gets rid of bureaucracy

At the end of the year, Canadian authorities published an annual review of the country’s mining strategy. The document highlights Canada’s progress and future plans to expand its mining industry and, above all, in the production of rare earth elements and elements for the production of chips. But experts note that bureaucracy ruins everything, because it takes 10–15 years to open each new mine. That’s not how things are done.

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The authorities call such elements that are under immediate threat in modern supply chains as critical for speedy production in the country. Also, such minerals or elements must be important to Canada’s economy and national security, as well as lead to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Ultimately, the extraction of these strategic elements should turn the country into a sustainable strategic partner in the global supply chain. The final document of the 2024 edition defines 34 such elements, among which the authorities named lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements as priorities.

Canada was forced to think about its own production of rare earth elements and other strategically important minerals by the current circumstances when China announced a policy of tightening control over the supply of such elements to Western partners. This forced Australia to look for ways to replenish resources that, due to restrictions, may be in short supply. China’s demarche has jeopardized the global production of semiconductors and batteries, which is why we have to look for an alternative.

Experts note that with the current practice in Canada of delaying the issuance of permits for the opening of each new mine for up to 10–15 years, the country has no chance of competing in the field of raw material extraction with the United States, Australia and China. Moreover, even if in 10 years the development of mines, for example, for the extraction of lithium, is allowed, this element may not be required for new generations of batteries, and it will turn out that everything was started in vain. We can only hope that the experts are not mistaken and can more or less accurately predict the need for certain elements for many years to come. In this case, Canada eventually has a chance to become a major power, producing strategic raw materials at home and relying little on their imports.