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 co-investing in strategically important Canadian critical minerals projects and working to strengthen our supply chains through the Canada-U.S. Energy Transformation Task Force, which was recently renewed for another year. We are accelerating projects and attracting capital to Canada that will develop the critical minerals essential for continental security and our clean energy future.
Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced the first co-investment with the U.S. in two Canadian companies developing deposits of critical minerals - Fortune Minerals Limited located in the Northwest Territories and Lomiko Metals, Inc. in Quebec. The two companies are receiving funding from both Canada and the U.S. to accelerate their projects towards production.
Canada's investment of C$4.9 million in Lomiko will fund pilot plant testing to convert flake graphite into battery-grade material and is joined by an American investment of US$8.4 million through the Defense Production Act Investments (DPAI) office. Canada's investment of up to C$7.5 million to Fortune will advance engineering and processing for the development of the company's NICO project to ensure a reliable North American supply of bismuth, in addition to cobalt, copper and gold, and is joined by an American investment of US$6.4 million through the DPAI office. Both investments build on previous Government of Canada funding for Fortune and Lomiko and will support defence applications and the growing demand for long-duration energy storage and electric vehicles.
This announcement is a landmark 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, for which it is also a key deliverable.
Co-investment in Canadian projects of strategic importance, like Fortune and Lomiko, supports the U.S. and Canada's shared vision of strong, sustainable North American critical mineral supply chains. It is this kind of cooperation and integration that will allow us to seize the generational opportunity of the global transition to net zero.
