The North American environment in which electric vehicles exist has changed dramatically in recent months. On the one hand government incentives have been reduced if not eliminated, and on the other the new U.S. administration has turned away from EVs with a vengeance. But the transition to electrification and a greener vehicle fleet continues nonetheless. And one announcement in this direction almost flew under the radar this week.
Automotive News reported that Frontier Lithium, which is developing a mine some 500 km northwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario, announced that it had acquired a 183-acre site on the southern tip of Mission Island for approximately $3.4 million CAD. The site, a former coal-fired power plant, is located in Thunder Bay. The company plans to build a lithium processing plant on the site.
Company CEO Trevor Walker said the deal strengthens Northern Ontario's position in the country's battery materials sector.
“In addition to housing our planned lithium processing facility, regional office and innovation centre, Thunder Bay is ideally positioned to support the broader regional lithium supply chain as new resources come online.”
- Trevor Walker, CEO of Frontier Lithium
The industrial site is already connected to a high-voltage electrical infrastructure and has rail and sea links enabling products to reach national and international markets.
Thunder Bay Mayor Ken Boshcoff said Frontier would serve as an “anchor point” for other critical mineral processing operations.
The Thunder Bay plant would complete the final stage of Frontier's integrated mining and processing operation. It would refine the lithium-rich material extracted and milled at the company's planned mine near Red Lake into battery-grade lithium.
This is the kind of news that will reassure those who still believe in going electric, and all those who have invested in what represents the future of the automobile.