Responding to concerns, the company says it will be conducting feasibility and metallurgical studies over the next five years and will be subject to a review by Quebec's environment consultations office, known as the BAPE.In Quebec’s Laurentians region, a few kilometres from a wildlife reserve and just outside the town of Duhamel, lies a source of one of the world’s most sought after minerals for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries: graphite.Since Lomiko Metals Inc., a mining company based in Surrey, B.C., announced plans to build a graphite mine in the area, some residents living nearby have protested the project, fearing the potential harm to the environment. But opposition has only gained steam after locals found out last month that the Pentagon is involved in the project.In May, Lomiko announced it received a grant of $11.4 million from the U.S. Department of Defence and another $4.9 million from Natural Resources Canada to study the conversion of graphite into battery-grade material for powering electric vehicles.In its own announcement, the Pentagon said Lomiko’s graphite will bolster North American energy supply chains and be used for “defence applications,” words that make Duhamel resident Louis Saint-Hilaire uneasy. (ICE TORONTO)

Fonte notizia: https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/