Lithium Universe enjoys warm Canadian welcome for planned critical metals hub

Lithium Universe leadership meets stakeholders for Bécancour Lithium Refinery
Project expected to address the lithium conversion gap in the country
Definitive feasibility study is the next step

Special Report: Lithium Universe’s leadership team received a warm welcome and strong engagement from federal, provincial and local governments during a visit to Eastern Canada on the campaign trail for its Bécancour Lithium Refinery.

The delegation – led by CEO Alex Hanly and chairman Iggy Tan, with board directors Patrick Scallan and Dr Jingyuan Liu, and Lithium Universe Canadian director Victoria Vargas – engaged with government stakeholders, community partners and industry peers to reinforce the company’s strategy to address the lithium conversion gap in North America.

The company is seeking to establish itself as a prominent lithium project builder, and is developing the proposed 16,000tpa Bécancour lithium carbonate refinery project as part of its Québec Lithium Processing Hub, which will also operate an independent 1Mtpa concentrator.

To be located at the Bécancour Waterfront Industrial Park, the plan for the hub is to capture feedstock from the burgeoning James Bay lithium district, an emerging Tier-1 domain endowed with more than 500Mt of economic lithium resources to date.

Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) says the recent trip underscored its commitment to the region and how its innovative lithium carbonate plant would build lithium conversion capacity alongside spodumene mines to enable Canada to become wholly self-sufficient in the lithium chemical supply chain.

Federal Government on board

The company met with various Federal Government stakeholders from Invest in Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and Export Development Canada.

LU7 says stakeholders praised the company’s proactive approach in aligning with the federal strategy to decouple supply chains from China – an initiative that aligns well with the recent Cooperation on Critical Minerals agreement released in March 2024 between the Australian and Canadian governments.

“The reception from federal, provincial and local government delegates has left a very positive impression on the LU7 board of directors,” chairman Iggy Tan said.

“The region has made strong commitments since releasing the Critical Minerals Strategies four years ago and we have seen that in the significant investments made within the battery supply chain and pragmatic discussions held with key government executives.

“We look forward to advancing the company’s Bécancour Lithium Refinery to contribute in making Québec the lithium conversion centre within the Transatlantic region.”

Québec an emerging lithium processing hub

As part of the tour, the company met with the Honourable Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economics, Innovation, and Energy, who expressed enthusiasm for the engineering progress, the acquisition of the option agreement within the Bécancour Industrial Park, and the Hydro-Québec application for an estimated 22.5MW energy allocation for the Bécancour Lithium Refinery.

Lithium Universe emphasised Québec’s strategic benefits, including hydroelectric power, proximity to the James Bay region, and logistic advantages with port access to the transatlantic region.

LU7 met with key delegates from Investissement Québec, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests, Energy Transition Valley Innovation Zone, and the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks.

Notably, the province has a strong history of supporting lithium battery supply chain development, with provincial and federal government incentives including the General Motors and Korea-based POSCO Chemicals’ US$1 billion cathode active material factory, the Ford/EcoPro BM US$800 million cathode factory, and Northvolt’s US$7 billion EV Battery Facility at Saint-Basile-le-Grand.

This creates a favourable regulatory environment for the company’s project, ensuring robust support throughout the cycle.

The company is now working towards a definitive feasibility study for the project, leveraging insights from the massive Jiangsu lithium carbonate plant in China that LU7’s key people played a lead role in building.

Jiangsu is among the world’s top five lithium carbonate producers.

This article was developed in collaboration with Lithium Universe, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.