Canada’s government is putting the approval of critical mineral mines on the fast track as it aims to compete against China in the sector.
Specifically, the Canadian government says it is reducing the time it takes to develop new critical mineral mines by nearly a decade using an expedited permitting process.
The government added that it is focusing on the mining of six critical minerals that are widely used to manufacture %ElectricVehicles from auto makers including Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) and %WindTurbines.
The minerals are %Lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements that are found in electric vehicle batteries.
Government officials said that the mining of critical minerals is currently dominated by China, and that Canada needs to better compete in this important sector.
Going forward, government officials will reduce the time it takes to approve mines by reducing paperwork and bureaucracy and running permitting and environmental assessment processes at the same time.
The Canadian government added that it will also spend billions of dollars to fund needed infrastructure, such as transmission lines and roads, at critical mineral mine sites.
Canada currently ranks fifth globally in the production of graphite and nickel and is an emerging supplier of many other critical minerals that are crucial for electric vehicles and wind turbines.