Battery sector: Volkswagen invests $69 million in a lithium mine in Quebec

Volkswagen, which owns 21% of Northvolt, is putting $69 million into Vancouver-based mining company Metals de Batteries Patriot Inc., which has a lithium mine project in the Eeyou Istchee Baie-James region of Quebec.

• Also read: Aid to businesses: nearly $5 billion promised to the battery sector

• Also read: Here is St. Thomas, the Ontario city that beat Quebec

“The supply agreement would be used to fuel PowerCo’s battery cell production activities in Europe and North America, including its battery cell plant in St. Thomas, Canada,” the company said in a press release. , Wednesday.

“This investment is a huge seal of approval from a key industry player and reinforces our view that this project is truly a key asset in the Western electric vehicle supply chain,” summed up l National Bank analyst Mohamed Sidibé in a note after the announcement.

During the day, the share of Patriot Battery Metals Inc. jumped nearly 37% (98 cents), to $3.63, electrified by the news.

Ontario sector

While uncertainty hovers over the timeline for Northvolt’s $7 billion plant in Quebec, which could be pushed back by one to two years, Volkswagen’s plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, is progressing briskly and plans to manufacture its cells in 2027.

One March 2023, The Journal had gone to St. Thomas, the Ontario city that beat Quebec by succeeding in attracting the Volkswagen battery mega-factory.

Volkswagen wanted a field of 1400 football fields, of around 700 megawatts, a rapid achievement… criteria that Quebec was incapable of meeting.

In mid-December, The Journal reported that even if Northvolt, Lion Électrique and Taiga are experiencing serious financial difficulties, Investissement Québec (IQ) still wants to create 10,000 jobs in the battery sector by 2030.

– With the collaboration of Sylvain Larocque