Australia-based Elevra Lithium has received $145 million from the Canada Growth Fund (CGF) to support the staged expansion of the North American Lithium (NAL) open-pit mine in in the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region of western Quebec. 

The investment is part of a roughly $417 million financing package, which includes this recent investment from CGF and a roughly $272 million public share offering. 

“This financing supports our near-term expansion plan at NAL and positions the asset as a long-term growth platform,” Lucas Dow, managing director and CEO of Elevra, said in a news release. “CGF is providing important capital that helps de-risk the staged expansion and gives us greater certainty to deliver growth at NAL. We appreciate the continued focus on building a resilient North American lithium supply chain anchored in Quebec.”  

The mine, located about 570 kilometres north of Montreal, is Canada’s largest operating lithium mine. It provides a domestic source of a critical mineral used in electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems. Its production helps reduce reliance on imports from major global suppliers while supporting Canada’s broader efforts to build more resilient battery material supply chains. The project is also anticipated to support approximately 252 existing jobs within the area. 

The mine expansion is expected to increase annual spodumene concentrate production to approximately 315,000 tonnes from 200,000 tonnes.

The mine first entered commercial production in 2018 under North American Lithium Inc., which was backed by China’s Tianqi Lithium. However, the operation soon ran into significant challenges, including plant reliability issues, high operating costs and unfavourable lithium prices. These pressures ultimately led to its shutdown in 2019 and subsequent insolvency.  

In 2021, the asset was acquired out of bankruptcy by Sayona Mining, in a joint venture with Piedmont Lithium, forming Sayona Québec. Following upgrades, the mine was successfully restarted in 2023 and has since resumed production of spodumene concentrate. 

In August 2025, Sayona Mining and Piedmont Lithium officially merged to form Elevra Lithium. In addition to NAL, Elevra holds a 60 per cent interest in the Moblan lithium project in Quebec’s James Bay region, owns the Carolina Lithium project in the United States and maintains exploration assets in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

The CGF, formally established in 2023, is a $15 billion federal investment fund designed to attract private capital into large-scale Canadian projects, particularly in clean energy, critical minerals and other strategic industries. The fund aims to attract private investment and help scale projects that are critical to Canada’s economic and industrial strategy by reducing early-stage risk and improve project viability.  

The fund has already committed around $116 million to support Vale Base Metals' Thompson nickel mine complex in Manitoba and around $113 million in Nouveau Monde Graphite's Matawinie project in Quebec.