First Phosphate welcomes the inclusion of phosphate (apatite) in the list of critical minerals

The Province of Québec has added the phosphorus mineral apatite to the list of minerals considered critical and strategic. First Phosphate (CSE: PHOS, FSE: KD0, WKN: A3DQCH) welcomes this step because it draws general attention to a potential future bottleneck that needs to be mitigated in good time by developing domestic phosphate deposits.

Maïté Blanchette Vézina, the Minister of Natural Resources and Forests of Quebec (MRNF), presented the 2023-2025 action plan for the implementation of the plan for the development of critical and strategic minerals in Quebec on Tuesday. She used this presentation to announce that the list of critical and strategic minerals in Québec (CSM) has been updated. The list now includes the important phosphate mineral apatite.

Wit this decision Québec joins the Canadian province of Ontario, the European Union and South Korea, as all of these countries and provinces already classify phosphate as a critical and strategic mineral. Canada as a whole and the USA have not yet taken this step. However, it is expected that corresponding initiatives will be implemented before the end of this year, meaning that phosphate can also be expected to have the status of a critical and strategically important mineral in the other Canadian provinces and in the U.S. in the near future.

The supply situation will become increasingly critical over the next 15 years

A look at the current and future supply situation shows just how important such a step is. Already in the second quarter of 2023, Argus Phosphate Rock Analytics assumed that current North American phosphate production will decline by 61 per cent by 2037.

In addition, North American phosphate production is currently focused on food and fertiliser production. The additional demand that is expected to arise from lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery production has not yet been really taken into account. It should be noted that large quantities of high purity, purified phosphoric acid (PPA) are required for the production of LFP batteries.

First Phosphate welcomed the initiative and continues to drive forward the development of its projects

First Phosphate has been actively involved in the development of phosphate deposits in Quebec and therefore welcomes Quebec’s recognition of the tremendous opportunity to make its local phosphate deposits available for North America’s electrification needs.

First Phosphate also believes that the magmatic anorthosite phosphate rock encountered in Québec represents an untapped source of high purity phosphate. The deposits can potentially be mined and converted into large quantities of PPA.

Therefore, the company’s goal is to develop a production site for an LFP battery valley in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Québec. In future, this can help to meet the expected high demand for active LFP battery cathode materials (CAM) throughout North America.