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Focus area / Critical minerals

Move critical minerals from potential to production.

Build the technical evidence, commercial partnerships and adoption pathways that help strengthen responsible Canadian mineral supply chains.

Discuss this priority
Terraced benches and haul roads at Bingham Canyon copper mine in Utah, USA
Photo: Bingham Canyon Mine (1), Utah, May 11, 2012 by David Ratledge. CC BY 4.0. Resized; cropped to fit.Context image; no CEMI project, partnership or endorsement implied. Download photo

Why this focus

The opportunity behind the headline.

A resource in the ground is not yet a reliable supply chain. Recovery, processing economics, demonstration capacity and customer qualification can prevent promising deposits and technologies from reaching market.

Government of Canada context

The Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy connects exploration, extraction, processing, manufacturing and recycling. It also emphasizes Indigenous reconciliation, environmental protection and resilient value chains.

Sources reviewed . Policy alignment is not program eligibility, government endorsement or a funding commitment. Check current terms directly with the responsible agency.

Our proposed response

What CEMI and MICA would bring.

CEMI / Challenge and evidence

Translate operator and processor bottlenecks into quantified challenge briefs; compare technologies and structure independent demonstration evidence.

MICA / Route to market

Use MICA, where its mandate and capacity are confirmed, to connect Canadian SMEs with demonstration hosts, processing partners, buyers and commercialization expertise.

Proposed delivery roles only. Confirm MICA governance, active scope and available capacity for each engagement.

Where to start

Practical opportunities to explore.

Recovery and processing

Ore sorting, selective extraction and processing routes that improve recovery and product quality under real feed conditions.

Buyer qualification

Connect test results to product specifications, impurity limits and the evidence a downstream buyer needs.

Resilient supply chains

Identify domestic supplier gaps, second-source options and equipment or service businesses ready to scale.

Proposed first engagement

Resource-to-buyer demonstration

See all five delivery gates
Practical output
A representative-feed test report, mass balance, product specification and buyer-reviewed techno-economic case.
Area-specific decision gate
Proceed only when recovery, product quality, environmental constraints and buyer acceptance criteria are met; an introduction is not an offtake agreement.

Evidence, not promises

How we would measure progress.

Agree baselines, targets, measurement methods and reporting permissions before work starts. These are proposed measures, not achieved results.

  • Recovery (%) and product purity against the agreed feed baseline
  • Processing cost ($/tonne) and energy (kWh/tonne) at the stated scale
  • Buyer qualifications completed and paid deployments, reported separately

Responsible delivery

Boundaries that matter.

Verify the current federal mineral list and any program eligibility before making a claim. Do not imply guaranteed permits, financing, offtake or government endorsement.

For the first conversation, bring the problem or community-defined priority, your role, available evidence and the decision you need to make. Do not send confidential technical data, sensitive community information or Indigenous knowledge through the public inquiry form.

Discuss critical minerals

Connected services

Use the pathway that fits the need.

Connected priorities

No challenge stands alone.

Priority-led innovation

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