The route of the transmission line planned by Hydro-Québec to supply the first electric open-pit mine in the world, that of Nouveau Monde graphite (NMG), crosses a “unique and fragile” agricultural territory, according to the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ), which refuses to give the necessary green light to start the work.
The CPTAQ, guardian of arable land, believes that the territory concerned in Saint-Zénon – where the line must pass – “is unique and fragile due to its location in the middle of an ocean of non-agricultural territory”.
By means of a 120 kilovolt transmission line, Hydro-Québec intends to connect its network to the graphite mine that NMG is planning in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, in Lanaudière.
The proposed 13.8 kilometer route — including 1.8 kilometers in agricultural area — “encroaches on pastures and hay fields, both in agricultural and non-agricultural territory,” writes the CPTAQ in a recent decision. It sends Hydro-Québec back to its drawing board, convinced that the distributor can circumvent these lands if it has the “real will”.
This decision joins preliminary guidance issued by the Commission in November 2021, in which it argued that the Crown corporation had not made every effort “to mitigate the negative impacts” on agricultural activities.
For its part, Hydro-Québec intends to request a review of this decision. “According to our analyses, this is the route with the least impact. […] A new route that would completely avoid protected agricultural land would have additional impacts on wetlands, on the length of the future line and on the deforestation it would require,” the government corporation explained in an email to Duty.
Another route mentioned in the CPTAQ file would cross a large wetland, a watercourse and a floodplain. It would also require moving the line higher in the mountains and, as a result, would further modify the landscape, according to Hydro-Québec. “There are vacationers and, therefore, we preferred to get as far away as possible from the resort areas,” reads the Commission’s decision.
Hydro-Québec has also postponed the schedule originally planned. Deforestation was to begin in the fall of 2023. “We now plan to start work in 2024,” says Hydro-Québec.
The electrification of the mine is a condition for NMG’s activities, according to the authorizations obtained from the Quebec government. The company mentions on its website that it could become “the world’s first fully electric open-pit mine”.
A new route that would completely avoid protected agricultural land would have additional impacts on wetlands, on the length of the future line and on the deforestation it would require.
Vice-president of communications at NMG, Julie Paquet assures that the refusal of the CPTAQ “has no impact at this stage on the schedule”. Currently, the company is concentrating on financing the two interrelated projects that NMG is leading simultaneously, namely the commissioning of the graphite mine and the future production plant for battery materials in Bécancour, that the production of the mine must feed.
“We are going to finance these two projects jointly,” she said, specifying that initial investments of $480 million are necessary for the development of the mine and $920 million for the Bécancour plant. Funding could be set as early as the fall. “From then on, we are planning a construction schedule that should last 28 months,” said Ms.me Pack.
The Matawinie mining project is presented as a “world-class deposit” which, once exploited, could become “the largest graphite mining project” in North America. NMG plans to extract 100,000 tonnes of high purity graphite concentrate annually.
The NMG project is in line with Quebec’s desire to develop the battery sector. In February, the government announced an investment of $3 million—paid through the Technoclimat program—for the establishment of a demonstration plant for a graphite coating process in the facilities of the company. A sum of $600,000 has also been advanced by Quebec to test a prototype of an all-electric mining vehicle.