Automotive News Canada - March 2022 - 22

22
* MARCH 2022
Feds want it all, 'from the mine to the recycling plant'
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
plex in the same Quebec city. BASF did
not disclose the value of the project.
The back-to-back investments in
Bécancour - on the south shore of the
St. Lawrence River across
from Trois-Rivières - follow
months of work by
governments of Canada,
Quebec and Ontario to
attract battery-supply-chain
investors as the transition
to EVs accelerates and
automakers look to reduce
their reliance on battery
materials from Asia.
At a March 7 press conference,
Champagne said
that the two Canadian
investments were just the
beginning.
Mell:
Regulatory
experience
gives
Canada
an edge
in North
" I can assure you that
there's more to come, " he
said. " We have been clear
from the get-go that we
'BEING BUILT BACKWARD'
The investments " bode well " for both
Quebec and Ontario, said Trent Mell, CEO
of Electra Battery Materials Corp., which
is building battery material processing
capacity in northern Ontario.
" The supply chain is being built
backward, " Mell said. With early battery-plant
decisions being made throughout
2021, he said, automakers and battery
companies are moving upstream to CAM
and will soon get to earlier material proAmerica
for
refining and
mining.
FILE PHOTO
want to see from the mine to the recycling
plant and everything in between. "
cessing steps and to mining.
Because of Canada's mining history and
its well-established regulatory framework
for issues such as tailings, water and effluent,
Mell said, the country is better positioned
for material refining and mining
than other locations in North America.
" I really think Quebec and Ontario are
going to emerge as distinct suppliers in
the EV supply chain, " he said.
GM picked Quebec for its CAM plant in
part because of the materials it expects to
source from local producers, said David
Paterson, GM Canada's vice-president for
corporate and environmental affairs. He
would not share details of
how much progress the
company has made on lining
up suppliers for the
plant but he expects that
room exists for both mining
and value-added processing
in Canada.
Local sourcing fits
directly into the automaker's
wider EV strategy.
" GM has a desire to
try and localize the supply
chain for our Ultium
battery system in North
America and to do it
in a sustainable way, "
Paterson said, adding that
the Quebec investment is
a " very significant first
step. "
Paterson:
General
Motors
wants to
create a
battery
supply
chain in
North
America and
do it in " a
sustainable
way. "
FILE PHOTO
ROOM FOR EXPANSION
Other notable benefits that GM saw in
Bécancour include predictable environmental
standards; strong infrastructure
QUEBEC
ONTARIO
Toronto
NEW YORK
Bécancour
Montreal
Quebec City
MAINE
JEFF MELNYCHUK, WITH ISTOCK
A SMALL TOWN IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Bécancour, with a population
of about 13,000, is located 150
kilometres northeast of Montreal on
the south shore of the St. Lawrence
River. Directly across the river on
the north shore is Trois-Rivières
with a population of about 140,000.
Bécancour has a history of industry
and was the site of a nuclear reactor
that was decommissioned in 2012.
links through rail, road and a deep waterport;
and Quebec's low-cost, hydro-powered
electricity grid. The site, Paterson
said, was originally slated for a steelmaking
operation that never materialized.
The large plot of land is expected to give
GM ample room for expansion beyond the
plant's original capacity.
Federal and provincial funding is in the
works but has not been finalized.
BASF also cited the city's logistical credentials
and " competitive " clean power
for its site selection. The company said the
location would allow it to produce up to
100 kilotonnes of CAM per year as well as
establish an integrated operation for proKILOMETRES
200
400
ducing
what's referred to as a precursor,
which is a key ingredient in CAM.
CAM itself is one of the vital inputs for
lithium-ion batteries. In GM battery cells,
for instance, the mix of nickel, lithium and
other minerals represents about 40 per
cent of the total cost.
For GM, these components will come
together at its four Ultium battery cell
plants in the United States, all currently
in various stages of development or planning.
Once bundled into finished cells, the
CAM produced in Bécancour will power
the automaker's next-generation EVs,
such as its Chevrolet Silverado, GMC
Hummer and Cadillac Lyriq.
Both GM and BASF plan to begin producing
CAM in Bécancour in 2025.
Canadian governments, meantime,
are continuing work to attract other battery-supply-chain
or cell-plant investments.
" The
next piece of the puzzle is to get a
battery manufacturing plant. Those are
very live discussions, " Champagne said.
He pointed to recent discussions Ottawa
held with Germany-based automakers and
a Japan delegation.
And while Quebec might have booked
the first battery-supply-chain deal, Mell
said it is too early and the nascent industry
too large to be limited.
" Ontario is still very much in play, " he
said. " In fact, I think what might happen
is now that you've got these two investments
announced, it might prompt decisions
to go Ontario's way now that that
real estate's been occupied by two big
players. " - ANC
- With files from Greg Layson
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Automotive News Canada - March 2022

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