Saskatchewan establishes partnership with France on strategic minerals
Saskatchewan and France have begun a new partnership – promising to explore, develop and cooperate on new projects related to strategic mineral resources.
Minister of Trade and Export Development Jeremy Harrison and French Delegate for Foreign Trade Franck Riester made the partnership official at the Saskatchewan Research Council on Monday.
“Today, I am delighted to expand and build on our relationship with France in strategic minerals sectors,” Harrison said in a news release. “This is especially important given our shared goals of lowering greenhouse gas emissions and making energy and mining more reliable and sustainable than ever before.”
Cooperation between the province and France has been long standing – with French-based nuclear energy company Orano managing several mining operations in northern Saskatchewan.
“This agreement with the Saskatchewan government is one of the first we have signed with a Canadian province, after the one signed with Quebec last November. That says a lot about the priority we attach to our relationship with Saskatchewan,” Riester said.
The letter of intent between the two governments will focus on improving supply chain security, sustainability, research and development. It also includes the intention to share knowledge and develop projects related to critical mineral innovations.
A total of 23 critical minerals can be found in Saskatchewan, according to the province. They include uranium, potash, rare earth elements, helium, lithium as well as copper.
According to Canada’s critical minerals strategy, there are 31 critical minerals found across Canada.
Six in particular, lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements are recognized as the most valuable for domestic manufacturing efforts.
The value of critical minerals is expected to rise by 400 to 600 per cent over the next several decades as nations continue their transitions to clean energy economies.
France boasts the world’s seventh largest economy and ranks third in Europe, following Germany and the United Kingdom.
Last year, Saskatchewan exports to France totaled nearly $220 million – marking an increase of 68 per cent from the year previous.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widespread technology outage disrupts flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world
A global technology outage grounded flights, knocked banks and hospital systems offline and media outlets off air on Friday in a massive disruption that affected companies and services around the world and highlighted dependence on software from a handful of providers.
Here's the latest on Canadian impacts of the global IT outage
Here's the latest developments on the Canadian impacts of the global technology outage that is causing massive disruptions to companies and services around the world.
Have you been impacted by the global IT outage? We want to hear from you
A global technology outage has disrupted flights, media outlets, and turned banks offline in a blow to services and companies around the world Friday. CTVNews.ca wants to hear how this has impacted you.
What is CrowdStrike, the company linked to the global outage?
The global computer outage affecting airports, banks and other businesses on Friday appears to stem at least partly from a software update issued by major US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, experts told CNN.
Canadian families will receive more in their next Canada Child Benefit payment. Here's why
Canadian families receiving Canada Child Benefit program payments can expect more cash in their cheques this Friday.
LIVE UPDATES Latest on global IT outage: Airlines, businesses hit by technology disruption
A major internet outage affecting Microsoft is disrupting flights, banks, media outlets and companies across the world, with problems continuing hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Trump urges unity after assassination attempt while proposing sweeping populist agenda in RNC finale
Donald Trump, sombre and bandaged, accepted the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday at the Republican National Convention in a speech that described in detail the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier before laying out a sweeping populist agenda, particularly on immigration.
BREAKING Trudeau taps MacKinnon to be new labour minister, replacing O'Regan
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is naming Steven MacKinnon as Canada's new minister of labour and seniors, filling a fresh vacancy on his front bench, left by outgoing minister Seamus O'Regan.
Thinking about getting a tattoo? New research might change your mind
Sealed bottles of tattoo and permanent makeup ink, including some marked as sterile, contained millions of potentially dangerous bacteria, according to new research by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.