Globe says Avalon's Bubar wants Canada to cut red tape

The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that the heads of several battery metals companies are calling on Ottawa to correct what they call slapdash efforts to support and fund critical minerals mining, as the U.S. government considers investing in Ontario's Ring of Fire region. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that the U.S. Department of Defense said last week that it is willing to help fund feasibility studies for mining companies across North America with promising projects. Its aim is to help alleviate shortages of some critical minerals and claw back China's dominance in the industry. These minerals include lithium, cobalt, graphite and battery-grade nickel. All of those are essential components in electric car batteries. Don Bubar, chief executive officer of Avalon Advanced Materials, a small development firm that recently met with the U.S. Department of Defense in the hopes of obtaining up to $4-million in funding for its Ontario lithium project, is appealing to Canadian politicians to do better. Senseless red tape is slowing the industry down, Mr. Bubar said. He cited the difficulties involved in sending a bulk mining sample of a critical mineral for processing abroad under World War I regulations.