Industrial Minerals
The top five business opportunities in Québec
Christian Morin
Direction de Géologie Québec
The Ministère des Ressources naturelles,
de la Faune et des Parcs identified, with the cooperation of SIDEX,
a number of particularly interesting industrial minerals in terms
of mineral exploration potential, based on prevailing market conditions.
The potential to discover new industrial mineral
deposits in Québec is very high. The geology of the Grenville
geological Province, specifically, is highly prospective. Its true
potential still remains to be assessed, but it may indeed have a
few surprises in store for us. However, exploration for industrial
minerals is closely tied to mining and processing activities as
well as market conditions. The market is highly competitive and
often controlled by one or a small number of major international
players. Regardless of the type of industrial mineral, if the market
is unable to absorb the new supply, then commercial production will
not be viable.
Here is the list of industrial minerals that,
in our opinion, warrant more attention from prospectors and mining
companies given their discovery potential in Québec and current
market conditions:
The value of industrial mineral shipments stood
at CAN$646M in 2002, i.e. far from negligible. Given Québec’s
very favourable geology, the discovery of new industrial mineral
deposits could certainly increase Québec’s share of
the market. However, prospectors or companies interested in this
search should not go off unprepared. It is vital for them to understand
the market conditions and industry specifications for the targeted
commodity.
References
QUÉBEC, MRNFP, Orientations
stratégiques minéraux industriels, december 2003,
24 pages (in-house document).
ROCHE, Étude des marchés
de minéraux industriels utilisés comme matériel
de charge ou dans d’autres applications, Ministère
des Ressources naturelles du Québec, mars 2000, 366 pages
(in-house document).
LES CONSEILLERS NGI inc., Bulletin
stratégique – Minéraux de magnésium –
Aspects économiques, SIDEX inc., 2004, 20 pages
(in-house document).
SIDEX, Strategic Diversification Bulletins
– www.sidex.ca
U.S. Geological
Survey Minerals Yearbook
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