Thunder Bay lithium refinery would create 'hundreds' of jobs: Fedeli

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

A projected Thunder Bay lithium refinery has taken a large measurement forward, getting enactment from some the provincial and national governments.

Frontier Lithium intends to physique the installation connected Mission Island. It would person lithium from the company's PAK mine, located northbound of Red Lake, into astir 20,000 tonnes of lithium salts annually.

"It's evidently been based connected galore years of concern and hard enactment present successful bluish Ontario, and it's a immense ballot of assurance that Frontier Lithium brings indispensable ingredients to the array with regards evidently to the PAK Lithium Project," said Trevor Walker, president and CEO of Frontier Lithium. "It's conditional support, tons of enactment to get done implicit the adjacent nine to 12 months here."

Walker said the institution has purchased a tract connected Mission Island — the erstwhile determination of the Thunder Bay Generating Station — for the refinery.

"It's a precise well-connected city," helium said of Thunder Bay. "It's truly a strategical determination successful the bosom of Canada, has great entree to planetary markets."

"It's an fantabulous work and proviso hub for the north."

In an interrogation with CBC News, Vic Fedeli, who was Ontario curate of economical development, occupation instauration and commercialized during the erstwhile word of the Ontario PC government — Premier Doug Ford won re-election connected Feb. 27, and his caller furniture volition beryllium sworn successful connected March 19 — said the task is simply a "very exciting" one.

"Frontier volition yet denote the fig of nonstop employees, but it's successful the hundreds," Fedeli said. "Also the indirect jobs are going to beryllium vast, due to the fact that this is the bottommost extremity of the nutrient chain, if you will."

"Quite a batch of radical volition beryllium involved," helium said. "The lithium needs to beryllium mined, it needs to beryllium transported."

Fedeli said the installation is besides cardinal successful helping the state navigate a commercialized warfare betwixt Canada and the United States.

"Lithium is precise sought after," helium said. "Ontario is the lone jurisdiction successful North America that has each of the minerals needed successful electrical conveyance battery: lithium, nickel, cobalt, fundamentally everything."

"The United States has 1 nickel mine, and not of the precocious grade," Fedeli said. "One lithium mine. They don't marque lithium hydroxide. This volition beryllium North America's precise archetypal lithium hydroxide conversion plant."

Walker said the task tin not lone make hundreds of nonstop jobs successful Thunder Bay, but besides galore indirect jobs successful surrounding communities, including First Nations.

"The speech has been taking spot implicit past mates of years with regards to Fort William First Nation," helium said. "This is astir an inclusive project."

Walker said the installation volition instrumentality 2 to 3 years to build, and the institution hopes to person the refinery operational successful 2030.

He said the PAK deposit has astir a 30-year lifespan "as it sits."

"That assets is inactive what we telephone open," helium said. "It has the quality to proceed to grow. This is simply a multi-generational plus that we see, truthful we spot a beingness that would spell good beyond 50 years of imaginable here."