Canada needs 'a lot of mines in a very short period' to meet electric vehicle targets, report warns

Canada needs to build a lot of mines “in a very short period” if it wants internal supplies of metals necessary for the electric-vehicle revolution, a new report warns.

According to the International Energy Agency, the world will need another 50 lithium mines by 2030 if international targets related to EVs are to be met.

It will also need 60 new nickel mines, 17 cobalt mines and hundreds of other mines adding up to a total of 388 new projects.

But only 70 metal mines are operational in Canada and 270 in the US, prompting the Fraser Institute to warn of a “significant risk” that EV targets could be missed.

“The sheer scale of mining required to meet EV mandates raises serious questions about the timelines being imposed by governments,” said Kenneth Green, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of the think tank’s report.

He added: “The significant risk of inadequate mineral and metal production threatens the viability and realism of government-mandated EV transition plans.”

The federal government is committed to ensuring that all new passenger vehicles and light trucks sold in Canada by 2035 are zero-emissions.

Earlier this year, the Prime Minister’s Office stressed the importance of producing minerals used in EVs in Canada.

“When electric vehicles are made from Canadian minerals, assembled by Canadian auto workers, and powered at Canadian-made chargers, we secure and create jobs, grow our economy, and keep our air clean now and into the future,” the PMO explained.

The Fraser Institute report, however, says that the “massive and rapid expansion” of EVs in Canada “will require a correspondingly massive and rapid expansion of the mining and refining of the metals and rare earth elements” used to build the vehicles.

“If Canada and the US wish to have internal supply chains for these vital EV metals, they have a lot of mines to establish in a very short period,” the think tank explained.

“Historically, however, mining and refining facilities are both slow to develop and are highly uncertain endeavours plagued by regulatory uncertainty and by environmental and regulatory barriers.

“Lithium production timelines, for example, are approximately six to nine years, while production timelines (from application to production) for nickel are approximately 13 to 18 years, according to the IEA.

“The establishment of aggressive and short-term EV adoption goals sets up a potential conflict with metal and mineral production, which is historically characterized by long lead-times and long production timelines. The risk that mineral and mining production will fall short of projected demand is significant, and could greatly affect the success of various governments’ plans for EV transition.”

The full report can be found here.