MP Haroun Bouazzi criticizes the Minister of Natural Resources, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, for letting the American defense exploit a graphite mine in Haute-Gatineau.
The Lomiko project aims to operate the La Loutre project, with an annual production of 100,000 tonnes of graphite over 15 years, which would be used to make batteries.
The company also confirms that it “successfully completed the semi-Cellules battery tests of its graphite La otre with Polaris Battery Labs”, can be read on the official Lomiko website.
“It is especially for the ecological transition, for the development of knowledge of the graphite“ battery ”grade, added Ms. Blanchette Vézina, in a parliamentary committee for the study of the credits of the mining component of her ministry.
But Bouazzi suggested putting this project on pause, because US defense has invested $ 11 million there and because President Donald Trump spoke of Canada’s annexation.
“I hear that we can speak of an ecological transition, knowing that these bombs produce a quantity of CO2, forgetting the crimes, children, women who die, just in cold matters, unfortunately of energy transition, it is an ecological disaster,” he argued.
The minister recalled that the investment had been made long before President Trump came to power, in a different context.
The federal
It is the federal government which is at the origin of this project, in particular with the adoption of a Canadian-American action plan in 2020, and Quebec has set up a discussion table to ensure that it has a “voice in the chapter”, said Ms. Blanchette Vézina.
“The relationships that are established with the United States is rather cold today, although we repeat the important place we have to support them in all of their needs,” she said.
Known in particular for his virulent crusade against Israel, Mr. Bouazzi indicated that in three months, after the attacks of Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, “the imprint” of the Israeli army and its bombings were equivalent to “150,000 tonnes of burned coal”.
The armies produce 5.5 % of greenhouse gases (GHG) worldwide, he also said.
-“Do you think our minerals should be used for armaments?” he asked the Minister.
She suggested that the defense industry in Europe could be one of the customers for the Quebec Critical mineral sector.
It is “important”, according to her, to “assert the positioning of Quebec”, as a privileged place “for a security and reliable supply”.
She recalled that all mining projects must follow the same approval processes.
Located 30 km southwest of Mont-Tremblant, the La Loutre project arouses resistance in the surrounding localities.
The project was made possible following the announcement in January 2020 of the “Canadian-American action plan for collaboration in the field of critical minerals”, which aims to strengthen North American production of necessary critical minerals such as defense, aerospace, clean energy and communications.
It was in May 2024 that Lomiko obtained funding of US $ 8.35 million from the Pentagon, therefore 11.4 million CAN, to transform graphite into battery quality anode material.
The Federal Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources also granted a 4.9 million research grant spread over three years, as part of its research, development and demonstration program for critical minerals.
At the time, on the grounds of the decision, it was recalled in particular that the United States depended 100 % on graphite imports, while China had declared its intention to set up export licenses for certain graphite products.
However, graphite supplies were insufficient to meet enormous growth in the electric vehicle market and the graphite deficit will increase up to 8 million tonnes by 2040, according to the forecast report on the Benchmark Mineral Intelligence glitter graphite.
The estimation of the indicated mineral resources of the otter contains 3.0 million tonnes of graphite contained at a content of 4.59 %, according to a technical report of the company.
