FPX Nickel is the first mining company to take part in the British Columbia critical minerals project advancement office’s (CMO) new concierge service, which is aimed at speeding up the development of promising critical minerals projects in the province.

The creation of the CMO and concierge service was announced in January as part of the first phase of the B.C. government’s critical minerals strategy. The service is intended to provide support to mining companies around regulatory processes, issues resolution, provincial and federal funding opportunities, and engaging and establishing agreements with First Nations near their projects.

As part of FPX’s participation in the concierge service, it announced on Sept. 3 that a working group comprised of senior company representatives, members of the CMO and associate deputy ministers from the provincial government will be involved in various aspects of the project. The working group will meet regularly to discuss any “issues and opportunities” around advancing the project.

Martin Turenne, president and chief executive officer of FPX Nickel, told CIM Magazine in an interview that the company sees the CMO and concierge service as important for B.C. mining companies in the pre-regulatory phase.

“The environmental assessment process in B.C. seeks to ensure that companies are front-loading as much as they possibly can around First Nations engagement and delivering on the initial project description,” Turenne said. “Our view is [that] working closely…in the pre-regulatory phase will have the effect of increasing the readiness of the company, the province and the various ministries involved in the environmental assessment processes, as well as helping both the company and government increase their depth of engagement with the First Nations around the project.”

FPX’s Baptiste nickel project in central British Columbia has the potential to produce 59,100 tonnes per year of nickel over a 29-year mine life, according to its September 2023 pre-feasibility study (PFS). The PFS envisioned Baptiste could produce either a high-grade concentrate of 60 per cent nickel for direct feed into the stainless steel industry, or for further refining into battery-grade nickel, copper and cobalt products for electric vehicle batteries.

In July, the company announced it had completed a value engineering study to improve the economics and reduce the carbon emissions of its proposed mine plan, and that it planned to adopt a trolley-assist haul truck system and increase its bench height and haul truck size to reduce the number of trucks needed, as well as to adopt autonomous haulage for its future mine expansion.

According to the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC), it currently takes up to 15 years to permit a mine in Canada. Much of the reason for the lengthy permitting time is the environmental assessment process, which requires companies to obtain permits and authorizations from numerous, and often siloed, provincial and federal ministries and agencies, said Michael Goehring, MABC’s president and CEO, in an interview with CIM Magazine.

“We need greater intergovernmental cooperation,” said Goehring. MABC has been advocating for reforms that would streamline and expedite critical minerals project permitting, including the establishment of a CMO.

Goehring said the office is a “really solid proactive first step” but that the MABC also wants to see the government streamline the environmental assessment process into a single coordinated review to eliminate duplication between federal and provincial ministries, making the option of substituting one process for the other “the rule, not the exception.” The association has also called for the government to provide dedicated capacity funding for Indigenous groups so that they can participate meaningfully in the environmental assessment and permitting processes. 

“We can make a significant contribution to climate action, to Canada and North America’s technological and national security objectives and grow our economy—it’s a huge opportunity, but it won’t happen to that extent if we don’t speed up,” he said.

In January, MABC released a report that found 14 proposed critical minerals mines—either in the early stages of the regulatory process or about to enter it—and two proposed mine expansions in B.C. could generate a combined $36.5 billion in near-term investment during development and construction, and $79.9 billion in near-term economic output.

Alanah Connie, communications manager for the B.C. ministry of energy, mines and low carbon innovation, told CIM Magazine in an email that the “single window approach to government processes” through the CMO is intended to address barriers to advancing critical minerals projects in the province.

The CMO currently has five dedicated staff members and is part of the government’s responsible mining and competitiveness division.

Connie wrote that the CMO will “engage with companies and First Nations interested in participating in or partnering on critical minerals opportunities” and help companies advance their projects efficiently. It is also engaging with capital markets in Canada and internationally to attract investment in critical minerals projects.

Connie did not make clear how companies or projects will be selected for the concierge service or whether they can apply for support. However, she said that CMO will work with companies to understand their projects and needs.

“Each critical minerals project is unique, and each will have specific needs depending on what stage they are at in their relationship development, resource definition and financing processes,” she wrote. “This is what a concierge service is for: to work with companies to identify their needs and determine how best to support them moving forward.”

FPX did not apply to be part of the concierge service, but had been speaking with the ministry about the idea for roughly a year and a half, Turenne said.

Goehring said he expects that projects will be selected for the concierge service if they have a pre-feasibility or feasibility study completed, are proactively seeking the consent of and working closely with Indigenous communities near their projects, and have committed to high environmental, social and governance performance.

“If [the government] is going to be prioritizing projects, there is only so much capacity in the regulatory space. This is not about picking winners and losers, it’s identifying and putting the best resources towards the best projects,” he said.

Connie noted the government’s critical minerals strategy also included promises to reduce permitting timelines and keep its geoscience dataset current.