Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration Program
Overview
Get financial support for your project that will help advance the development of products, processes, and technologies to the pre-commercialization phase of critical mineral mining.
At a glance
Funding available
- Develop a new product
- Reduce the ecological footprint
- No Condition
- Open Date : September 11, 2023
- Closing date : September 29, 2023
Eligible candidates
- Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction
- Canada
- Non-profit
- Public or Parapublic institution
- For-profit business
- All revenue ranges
- All organization sizes
- All groups
- Research
- Environment
- Economic, Social and Community Development
- Business owners / entrepreneurs
- Academia / students
- All structures
- National
Activities funded
The Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration Program prioritizes projects that innovate in the processing technologies for critical minerals. This includes advancing the commercial readiness of mineral processing operations and technologies.
- Continuous pilot campaigns for bioleaching processes to recover nickel, cobalt, and copper from pyrrhotite tailings.
- Demonstration of a hydrometallurgical process for recycling black mass on a continuous production basis.
- Pilot upgrading of La Loutre graphite to meet high purity levels for battery anodes.
- Optimization and validation of a hydrometallurgical process for high-purity cobalt sulfate production.
- Commercial demonstration of the RapidSX™ rare earth element separation technology.
- Exploration and optimization of processing nickel concentrate into battery intermediates.
- Separation of dysprosium and terbium oxide using a solvent extraction process.
- Demonstration of producing high-purity nickel, cobalt, and copper for zero-emission vehicle batteries.
- Sustainability demonstration of recycling rare earth elements from magnet scrap.
- Construction and operation of a direct lithium extraction pilot plant from brine.
- Evaluation of integrating MHP into Sherritt’s Fort Saskatchewan Metals Refinery for efficient high-purity nickel and cobalt production.
Eligibility
No eligibility criteria are mentioned for this grant.
Eligible expenses
There are eligible expenses for this grant. The expenses include:
- Travel costs related to the project
- Materials and supplies for project implementation
- Consultation fees for expert advice
Eligible geographic areas
This grant supports projects located across various provinces and territories in Canada. It is aimed at advancing commercial readiness in critical mineral processing technologies nationwide.
- Sudbury, Ontario
- Cobalt, Ontario and Temiskaming Shores, Ontario
- Lac-des-Plages, Quebec
- Northwest Territories
- Kingston, Ontario
- Amos, Quebec
- Saskatchewan
- British Columbia
- Saint-Hubert and Longueuil, Quebec
- Calgary, Alberta
- Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
Additional information
The Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration Program (CMRDD) focuses on advancing Canadian mining projects and developing domestic critical minerals value chains. It involves two funding streams, with projects aimed at various stages of mineral processing technologies being reviewed and funded.
- The CMRDD is providing $192.1 million in federal funding.
- Funding streams include federal R&D projects and contribution funding for pilot and demonstration projects.
- Federal R&D projects are aligned with industry needs and supported by Canada's federal research facilities.
- Contribution funding supports midstream projects at technology readiness levels 6–8.
- The program aims to propel projects into the pilot and demonstration phase of development.
