The development of secure, sustainable North American supply chains requires close collaboration among like-minded partners. That is why Canada and the United States are strategically co-investing in important critical minerals projects in Canada and working to strengthen our supply chains. We are accelerating projects that will develop the critical minerals essential for continental and economic security, as well as for our clean energy future.
Critical minerals are essential components in products used for defence, advanced manufacturing and clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles, electrical transmission lines and batteries. Canada's mining sector provides many of the building blocks needed for these strategic sectors, including tungsten, gallium, germanium and zinc.
Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced a co-investment with the United States in the Canadian mining company Fireweed Metals Corp. (Fireweed). Fireweed will receive up to CA$12.9 million (approximately US$9.2 million) from Natural Resources Canada for its North Canol Infrastructure Improvement Project, pending final due diligence, for pre-development activities by the company such as design, studies and collection of baseline data, as well as engagement and consultations with First Nations. These pre-development activities will focus on improvements of approximately 250 kilometres of road, upgrades to an existing transmission line between Faro and Ross River, and the construction of a new transmission line from Ross River to the Macmillan Pass site. This infrastructure will be key to the development of Fireweed's Critical minerals projects in eastern Yukon.
These funds will be joined by a US$15.8-million (approximately CA$22.1 million) co-investment from the United States to advance test work, feasibility studies and other preconstruction activities at the Mactung mine project, which is expected to benefit from the Canadian-supported infrastructure improvements.
Canada is providing this conditional funding to Fireweed through the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund's (CMIF) pre-construction stream. The CMIF is a key program under the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy to address infrastructure gaps, enable critical minerals production and connect resources to markets through various clean energy, electrification and transportation infrastructure projects. The co-investment from the United States is provided by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Defense Production Act Purchases Office.
This announcement is a concrete example of the close bilateral collaboration under the Canada-U.S. Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals Collaboration and the Canada-U.S. Energy Transformation Task Force. Co-investment in Canadian projects of strategic importance, like Fireweed's, supports the United States and Canada's shared vision of strong, sustainable North American critical mineral supply chains.
