At the 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit in Alberta in June, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced $80 million to improve Canada’s critical minerals supply chains, including $50M earmarked to support domestic research and development initiatives.
This week, Canada invested nearly $1M into Arianne Phosphate, which has developed a process to extract phosphate rock and optimize phosphoric acid purification.
“Recognized as a critical mineral in 2024, phosphate is an essential mineral used in lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, as well as food and agriculture,” explains Marco Gagnon,
Executive Chairman of Arianne.
If commercialized, the Quebec-based project could establish a source of Canadian phosphorus, a key ingredient in lithium-iron-phosphate batteries.
“The Government of Canada’s support of Arianne allows us to move forward the development of our Lac à Paul project to the benefit of the country, our stakeholders, and our shareholders,” stated Gagnon. “The advancement of our project will help bring about the government’s vision of being a leader in critical minerals.”
By investing in projects like Arianne Phosphate’s Technology Centre, “we are strengthening Canada’s leadership in critical minerals and building a cleaner, more secure future, furthering the goals spelled out at the G7 in Kananaskis,” remarked Tim Hodgson, who serves as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
The investment, which hails from the Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration program, aligns with the nation’s Critical Minerals Strategy, which aims to advance the development of critical minerals and support advanced technology and manufacturing.
“This investment not only supports innovation, supply chain security, and good jobs here at home,” Hodgson said. “It also ensures we are leveraging our natural resources to stay at the forefront of the global shift to clean technologies.”
According to the Critical Minerals Strategy, the sector presents a “generational opportunity for Canada in many areas: exploration, extraction, processing, downstream product manufacturing and recycling,” and offers the “building blocks for the green and digital economy. ”
Canada, the Strategy notes, “is in the extremely fortunate position of possessing significant amounts of many of the world’s most critical minerals.”
The investment “highlights Canada’s commitment to securing a reliable and sustainable supply of critical minerals essential for, among other uses, clean energy generation and storage,” according to Claude Guay, who functions as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
“By backing projects like this, we are creating jobs and securing a sustainable, homegrown supply of essential resources for the future,” said Guay.
Founded in 1997 as Arianne Resources, Arianne Phosphate today trades publicly on the TSX-V and OTC.