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Marc-Antoine Dumont, Senior Economist • Marc Desormeaux, Principal Economist
Randall Bartlett, Senior Director of Canadian Economics
Economic Viewpoint
Securing Canada’s Position as a Critical Minerals Superpower: The Ontario Mining Industry
April 22, 2024
- In this second in a series of Economic Viewpoints on critical minerals in Canada, we explore the achievements and future of the Ontario mining industry.
- While its production is currently concentrated in copper, nickel, gold, and platinum group metals, Ontario holds a variety of economically viable mineral deposits.
- Some of the most promising are in the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, and exploration of that region has already started.
- Although the province can capitalize on its diversified economy to develop a complete supply chain from mine to consumer, it still needs to address its lack of infrastructure in rural and remote regions. At a time when construction workers are a rare commodity and interest rates remain high, this endeavour could prove to be more difficult than expected.
- That said, the Toronto Stock Exchange is not only the financial capital of Canada, but also a hub of the global mining industry, with 40% of the world’s mining companies listed on the exchange. For Ontario’s mining industry, this means companies can tap into an almost endless well of domestic and foreign capital.
- Extracting and refining Ontario’s minerals could create significant wealth for the province, but it comes with environmental risks. Only by analyzing and effectively managing these risks can the province take full advantage of the immense opportunity presented by its mining industry.
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