from $62 million in 2020. Saskatchewan is expected to be closer to $400 million, and it, too, has tripled the amount spent on exploration.
need to connect to drive energy from a renewable source to that EV,” he said. Exploration is largely a boots-on-the-ground,
In Manitoba, the Tanco mine near Lac du Bonnet is the oldest lithium producer in Canada, and it’s soon to be joined by two companies — New Age Metals Inc. and Snow Lake Lithium — beginning exploration work nearby. “As they often say in the mining industry, the best place to look for a mine is beside an existing one,” said Frank Wheatley, president of Snow Lake Lithium, in a Jan. 16 story in the Free Press (Winnipeg). Killeen said the impact of demand from EVs goes beyond the vehicles them- selves, to the energy industries that will have to ramp up supply to accommodate battery charging. Hydroelectric generat- ing stations will need copper, steel and gold, as will those companies that pro- duce EV charging stations. “Over the longer term, as much as we’ve seen commodity prices fluctuat- ing, it’s hard to escape the concept that there’s going to be multifold increases in demand for things like copper, for nickel, for lithium, cobalt, whether it’s directly from the EV marketplace or if it’s the EV marketplace-plus, as in all the things
labour-intensive process, with 31,900 employed as mine geologists in 2021 earning an average wage of $48 per hour, according to the latest data avail- able from Employment and Social Development Canada. For those con- sidering a career, the federal agency forecasts “very good” employment pros- pects in Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory and Ontario, with “moderate” prospects in Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories and British Columbia. In the physical sciences, the agency forecasts 10,100 available jobs, either new or to replace retirees, created between 2022 and 2031 and only 9,600 job seekers qualified to fill them. The demand for minerals spurred on by the growth of EVs also has the potential to revive interest in mines that otherwise would be at their end-of-life stages, keeping shafts open and crews employed longer, Killeen said. That these new and revived projects are in Canada, with strict workplace regulations, is also a selling point for
“Canada’s size and geological diversity put it in an enviable position to be a one-stop- shop for EVs...” — JEFF KILLEEN
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