ARMSTRONG – Green Technology Metals will have a lithium mine north of Thunder Bay by 2026 and a processing plant in the city by 2030 – if all goes according to plan.
Cameron Henry, managing director of the Australia-headquartered company, said this week it is “targeting” 2026 as the year its Seymour Project north of Armstrong goes into production.
“But you know, for us to be in production in 2026 there’s many facets of the timeline that we need to complete,” he said in a Zoom interview.
“And obviously that’s getting approval from our First Nations partners and completing our permitting timeline as well in that correct time frame.
“So, there’s a lot of variables for us to get into production in 2026, but that’s still what we’re hoping to achieve.”
Henry said the Thunder Bay processing plant, for which a site has not yet been chosen, could be up and running by 2030 – “hopefully before then. We’re certainly pushing to a timeline that’s potentially before then.”
The international mining firm hopes to have the processing plant open by late 2028 or 2029, he said.
Hundreds of potential jobs are at stake: more than 150 construction jobs for the Seymour mine, 100-120 jobs for about seven years for the mine’s operation, more than 500 construction jobs for the Thunder Bay facility, and 150-200 positions for 15-20 years when the plant is operational, according to Henry.
Green Technology also has a second project in the region, the Root Project to the west near Slate Falls, which the company says holds significant potential.
Green Technology is considering a site on Thunder Bay’s Shipyard Road and two other locations in the city for a lithium hydroxide conversion facility that would get its feedstock from the Seymour mine and other sources.
The facility will take lithium concentrate processed at a mine site and convert it into a product suitable for electric vehicle batteries.
Henry said Green Technology will select a site for the conversion plant soon.
“Thunder Bay’s got a great opportunity here to be at the forefront of lithium production in Northwestern Ontario, and we’re certainly keen to push that and support the whole of Thunder Bay to get this thing going,” Henry told Newswatch.
