First Phosphate lands conditional $12.2M grant to advance LFP processing plans

First Phosphate (CSE: PHOS) announced Monday it has been conditionally approved for a non-repayable contribution agreement for up to C$16.7 million ($12.2 million) with the Government of Canada through Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) under the Global Partnerships Initiative. 

The contribution, funded by the Government of Canada will be deployed to assess the technical and engineering parameters —   including processing circuits and equipment —   needed to validate the ability to produce a phosphate concentrate that meets the quality requirements of the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery market.  

The financial contribution is granted for the completion of a study of the company’s integrated phosphate concentrate project in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and covers eligible activities planned through 2028, in accordance with the terms of the agreement. It forms part of an initiative to support industrial collaboration and the integration of Canadian projects into international supply chains for battery materials. 

Bégin-Lamarche, one of the company’s two projects in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region, holds 41.5 million indicated pit-constrained tonnes grading 6.49% phosphate (P₂O₅) and 214 million inferred pit-constrained tonnes at 6.01% P₂O₅, the company said Sept. 18. The site’s Mountain zone adds 3 million indicated tonnes at 8.19% P₂O₅ and 6.8 million inferred tonnes grading 8.57% P₂O₅. 

The company said in 2024 it plans to build a 10,000-tonne-per-year iron phosphate plant 20 km from the deep-sea port of Saguenay. The plant is to serve as part of First Phosphate’s planned vertically integrated operation, transforming phosphate from its proposed mines into cathode active material.  

“Canada and our partners are putting real capital behind the secure and resilient critical mineral supply chains that our economies and defence industries rely on,” Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources said in a news release. “By supporting companies like First Phosphate, we are helping deliver the minerals the world needs and the prosperity and security Canadians deserve.” 

“This financial support of the Government of Canada represents an important lever for the continuation of our development work,” First Phosphate president Armand MacKenzie said. “This contribution enables us to carry out detailed work aimed at validating LFP application requirements and the expectations of our offtakers and international partners.” 

The development work will help strengthen Canada’s strategic positioning within the LFP battery value chain through the development of domestic capacity to process phosphate concentrate into high-purity phosphoric acid (PPA) for battery applications, the company said.

The project will develop a scalable Canadian process for the production of battery-grade phosphate concentrate, reducing dependence on foreign supply chains, it added.