Roughly 100 jobs could be created if a lithium processing plant is built in Thunder Bay.
Local mining expert John Mason points out two companies, Rock Tech Lithium and Avalon Advanced Materials, are eyeing this city for material from mines in northern Ontario. “The plant itself would produce lithium sulfate, and that material then could be converted to lithium hydroxide. That’s a main addition to lithium ion batteries.”
He adds building the plant could start in two to four years, and construction of the plant would mean more jobs.
The mines in question are near Kenora and Nipigon.
“The idea would be then the concentrate from those facilities would come to this central chemical plant, owned by the private sector, owned by those companies. So there’s a number of steps still to go through, this isn’t going to happen tomorrow,” says Mason.
There are still clearance needed for environmental assessments.
