Uranium added to Nova Scotia critical minerals list as province seeks exploration

Keith Doucette · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 14, 2025 5:37 PM EDT | Last Updated: 24 minutes ago

The Nova Scotia authorities added uranium to its database of precedence captious minerals connected Wednesday and issued a petition for exploration proposals astatine 3 sites the state says person known deposits of the dense metal.

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says the authorities hopes to reap economical benefits from the exploration successful the future, though a section authoritative said immoderate imaginable mining task could beryllium "decades" away.

"We are starting with exploration to larn astir our uranium potential," Rushton told a quality league successful Halifax. "Through a petition for proposals, we are opening up areas wherever we cognize that determination are uranium deposits. We volition prosecute with companies with a proven way grounds for information and biology work to research them."

Each of the 3 sites is connected backstage onshore and the curate said the authorities would statesman talks with the landowners astir its intent to research the sites. The locations are: an 80-hectare tract successful Louisville successful Pictou County; a 64-hectare tract successful East Dalhousie successful Annapolis County; and a 2,300-hectare tract successful Millet Brook successful Hants County.

"The satellite is demanding captious minerals that are mined responsibly, ethically and sustainably," Rushton said. "We request to determination connected these opportunities today."

The province's extremity is to usage uranium for atomic vigor and successful aesculapian isotopes to dainty wellness conditions, but Janice Zinck, enforcement manager of geoscience and mines astatine the Natural Resources Department, said uranium mining projects tin instrumentality anyplace from 10 to 20 years to ramp up.

"At slightest a decennary successful presumption of doing each of the improvement work, permitting and raising funds, but each task is antithetic and each advances astatine a antithetic pace," Zinck told reporters.

Legislation passed successful March lifted a moratorium connected uranium exploration and mining from 1981, and a afloat prohibition from 2009. Premier Tim Houston has said the legislative changes were needed to marque the state amended capable to withstand economical challenges from U.S. tariffs.

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said the uranium prohibition was the effect of technological survey and nationalist engagement, things that are lacking successful the existent government's approach.

"We perceive astir an economical improvement unreserved that the section itself says could beryllium decades away, and successful the meantime we person nary thought however landowners and Indigenous communities volition beryllium consulted on the way," Chender said.

She besides questioned the constituent of the list, fixed that galore Nova Scotians are much acrophobic astir the outgo of surviving and issues specified arsenic a deficiency of lodging and jobs. Chender said she believes it's a lawsuit of the authorities "needing thing to say" astir its plans for the economy.

Meanwhile, Rushton said silica, metallic and tellurium person besides been added to the captious minerals list, bringing the full fig to 20. Silica is utilized for star panels and semiconductors, portion metallic and tellurium are utilized for star panels and thermoelectric devices.

Minerals are chosen for the database based connected definite factors including their usage successful helping the state conscionable its emissions targets, planetary request and the strategical economical accidental they contiguous for Nova Scotia. Currently nary of the minerals connected the database are being mined successful the province.

Rushton besides connected Wednesday released a subset of "strategic minerals" that are besides prioritized. They see aggregate which is utilized successful the operation of roads, golden utilized for electronics and dentistry, gypsum utilized for drywall, plaster and cement, and potash that is utilized successful fertilizer.