{"id":89854,"date":"2025-02-25T09:55:57","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T14:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=89854"},"modified":"2025-02-25T09:55:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T14:55:57","slug":"ontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/ontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario PCs pledge $500-million for critical minerals processing but spending questions loom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Darius Snieckus, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Ontario&#8217;s Progressive Conservatives have pledged to set up a $500-million critical mineral processing fund to invest in &#8220;strategically located&#8221; facilities to develop the province\u2019s vast resources of lithium, graphite, zinc, cobalt and other key minerals and metals. The fund, a central economic plank in the party\u2019s re-election platform released on Monday, is the biggest government pledge so far to build a network of refining facilities mining experts say are needed to ensure Canada reaps the benefits of producing minerals and metals important for the global energy transition. The fund would target regions home to numerous deposits of the 34 metals and minerals identified in the federal government&#8217;s critical minerals strategy as key to the defense, energy and automotive sectors, including the Ring of&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F02%2F25%2Fontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Darius Snieckus, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Ontario&#8217;s Progressive Conservatives have pledged to set up a $500-million critical mineral processing fund to invest in &#8220;strategically located&#8221; facilities to develop the province\u2019s vast resources of lithium, graphite, zinc, cobalt and other key minerals and metals. The fund, a central economic plank in the party\u2019s re-election platform released on Monday, is the biggest government pledge so far to build a network of refining facilities mining experts say are needed to ensure Canada reaps the benefits of producing minerals and metals important for the global energy transition. The fund would target regions home to numerous deposits of the 34 metals and minerals identified in the federal government&#8217;s critical minerals strategy as key to the defense, energy and automotive sectors, including the Ring of... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F02%2F25%2Fontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ontario PCs pledge $500-million for critical minerals processing but spending questions loom - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/ontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ontario PCs pledge $500-million for critical minerals processing but spending questions loom - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Darius Snieckus, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Ontario&#8217;s Progressive Conservatives have pledged to set up a $500-million critical mineral processing fund to invest in &#8220;strategically located&#8221; facilities to develop the province\u2019s vast resources of lithium, graphite, zinc, cobalt and other key minerals and metals. The fund, a central economic plank in the party\u2019s re-election platform released on Monday, is the biggest government pledge so far to build a network of refining facilities mining experts say are needed to ensure Canada reaps the benefits of producing minerals and metals important for the global energy transition. The fund would target regions home to numerous deposits of the 34 metals and minerals identified in the federal government&#8217;s critical minerals strategy as key to the defense, energy and automotive sectors, including the Ring of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/ontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-25T14:55:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/25\\\/ontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/25\\\/ontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Ontario PCs pledge $500-million for critical minerals processing but spending questions loom\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-25T14:55:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/25\\\/ontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":848,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/25\\\/ontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/25\\\/ontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/25\\\/ontario-pcs-pledge-500-million-for-critical-minerals-processing-but-spending-questions-loom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ontario PCs pledge $500-million for critical minerals processing but spending questions loom - 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