North will benefit from Kingston cathode plant, Fedeli says
News about a $1.5 billion electric battery component facility to be built in Kingston is also good news for northern Ontario, says the province's Minister of Economic Development and Trade.
Vic Fedeli said the north will reap benefits from the Kingston plant, a partnership between the provincial and federal government and Belgium-based Umicore N.V.
The facility will be home to a plant producing cathodes and precursor materials, the province said, noting that cathodes make up about half of the value of an electric vehicle battery.
They contain minerals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium – minerals that are mined in the north.
"Every bit of the cathode and precursor plant that they have there needs minerals and that's what we have here in the north," Fedeli told CTV's Brendan Connor.
"We want a full supply chain. From critical minerals, this missing piece -- the precursor and the cathode -- then the battery plant, which we won, then the five manufacturers, which are here and shored up. All of the parts, all of the tools dyes and molds, all of the connected and autonomous vehicle tech components, that piece of cathode and precursor was missing and they need our minerals."
Fedeli said demand for nickel could eventually change the view of the Ring of Fire as a source of nickel, rather than chromite.
"I think they're literally going to push the chromite aside and go deeper for the nickel," he said.
"There's so much demand. Nickel is being found north of Timmins, Canada Nickel south of Timmins as well. Lots of development. We need lithium, which is all in northwestern Ontario, so we're going to push really hard for lithium mine to go into production and to have processing of the lithium there."
Longer term, Fedeli said such plants could be built in the north, closer to where the metals are located.
"The batteries themselves are going to be built in Windsor because they're literally adjacent to the assembly plant," he said.
"I think there's lots of room for the precursor to be processed here in northern Ontario and shipped worldwide, for that matter. I think we have enough to do it. And that's our ultimate goal. "
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
3 injured after man with knife enters Montreal-area mosque
Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.
Police arrest 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole Porsche and ran over its owner
Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.
Woman nearly shut out of mother's estate sues brother in B.C. Supreme Court – and wins
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Teen arrested in New Brunswick after emergency alert; 5 people in custody
A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.
Kamala Harris tells Oprah any intruder to her home is 'getting shot'
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a warning to any potential home intruder: 'If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot.'
'We're still pushing hard': Search for missing Manitoba boy continues, RCMP find tracks
The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.
On the trail of the mystery woman whose company licensed exploding pagers
What Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, says she hasn't done is make the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
Four dead in northern Ontario house fire
Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.
Top Hezbollah commander among 14 killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and other senior figures in the Lebanese movement in an airstrike on Beirut on Friday, vowing to press on with a new military campaign until it is able to secure the area around the Lebanese border.