A big fan of Quebec lithium, Australia is the most represented foreign country in Quebec’s mining territory.
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There are 18 Australian companies and investors in the list of mining claim holders in Quebec, our analysis reveals.
Their 6,361 mining exploration titles cover an area of more than 3,400 square kilometres.
“There are a lot of mining and exploration companies based in Australia. My experience tells me that there are more and more Australian companies [qui viennent au Québec]especially in terms of lithium,” explains Ugo Lapointe, of the coalition So that Quebec looks better.
Lithium is a main component of batteries used for cell phones, laptops and electric vehicles, among others.
A WIND THAT BLOWS
“There really is a wind blowing there [tant au Québec qu’à l’international] compared to lithium,” adds Éric Lemieux, mining sector analyst.
Two Australian companies are among the top 100 active claim owners here. They have created subsidiaries to operate in Quebec, namely Les Mines de Fer Champion Limitée (owned by Champion Iron Limited) and Sayona Québec (subsidiary of Sayona Mining Limited).
BENEFITS
“The Australians, what they do is that they look at Quebec and they share a Quebec arm, the perfect example is Sayona”, supports Valérie Fillion, general manager of the Association of mining exploration of Quebec.
According to her, these subsidiaries allow Australian companies to better claim tax credits and pay taxes in Quebec.
Origin of the claim
Quebec
Canada
International
Methodology
Source: GESTIM, the mining title management system of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests. Data extracted February 6, 2023.
Our Bureau of Investigation analyzed all claim holders in Quebec, who held 281,243 active claims as of February 6, 2023. These represent 14.5M hectares of explorable territory. The nationality was determined according to the registered office, the address of the main shareholder and the addresses present on GESTIM.
Several companies may jointly hold the same claim. We have calculated the number of titles and the area held by each owner in proportion to the rights they hold on each claim.
In the map, the color used represents the nationality of the owner who holds the largest part of the claim. In case of equal separation of the claim, a mixture of colors is used.