The newly released Manitoba Critical Minerals Strategy builds on a resurgence of the mineral sector in Manitoba, with several new actions identified to support mineral exploration and mining in the province.
MEIA is pleased to be named as key partner in this strategy.
Some new additions to the strategy include:
- establishing a Mining Advisory Leadership Table with Indigenous groups to strengthen relationships, explore revenue sharing and establish a community capacity building fund
- establishing a geoscience fund to support critical mineral work by Manitoba’s post-secondary institutions to increase public data, and collaborating with the federal government to leverage research and funds to further identify and assess critical mineral deposits in Manitoba
- ensuring Manitoba’s Mineral Exploration Tax Credit is aligned with the new federal Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit
- collaborating with industry in leveraging the federal Strategic Innovation Fund to invest in downstream mineral processing and build local value chains, as well as creating new incentives to attract and grow local processing and manufacturing of Manitoba’s critical minerals
- providing support to advance the delivery of a northern mining conference
- clarifying the requirement for a Heritage Resource Impact Assessment, where there are no recorded heritage sites, applies to the extraction cycle and not the exploration cycle
- developing a Heritage Resource Protection Plan to provide tips for identifying heritage objects and ensure industry is informed of best practices and reporting requirements should heritage objects be encountered during exploration
- recording information gained through engagement and consultation with Indigenous communities that provides insight into sensitive and culturally significant sites, and incorporating permit conditions to mitigate potential impacts.
The Manitoba Critical Minerals Strategy will be followed up with the Manitoba Minerals Action Plan, which will outline concrete and specific actions to achieve Manitoba’s mineral sector potential, and is expected to be released in spring 2024.