Critical Minerals on the Rise in Saskatchewan

Released on November 28, 2023

Saskatchewan continues to show increased exploration and spending in the province on critical minerals since announcing Securing the Future: Saskatchewan's Critical Mineral Strategy, last March.

"This has been a very exciting year for the mineral exploration sector in Saskatchewan, and we are seeing solid progress toward our goal to increase Saskatchewan's share of Canadian mineral exploration spending to 15 per cent by 2030," Energy and Resources Minister Jim Reiter said. "Long-term global trends, like growing populations and changing technology, are driving interest in our mineral resources."

Saskatchewan is seeing increased investments in exploration over 2022. The province's share of the national total is projected to increase to over 12 per cent in 2023 alone. More than 100 companies are actively advancing mineral projects in Saskatchewan, from early-phase exploration to larger scale projects such as BHP's $6.4 billion Jansen Stage 2 expansion.  

The province has nearly 12.4 million hectares of land under mineral disposition, meaning the sector has secured 50 per cent more explorable area when compared to 2020. This increase is underpinned by the work of the Ministry of Energy and Resources' Saskatchewan Geological Survey (SGS), who works with the resource sector on mining and petroleum exploration and development activities, as well as compiling essential information on the province’s geology. This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the SGS.

"No one in the world is more qualified to provide expert advice to companies looking to explore for minerals and petroleum in Saskatchewan than this committed group of geoscientists," Reiter said.

As part of the strategy, the Government of Saskatchewan will continue to engage with resource sector partners and stakeholders on current and future opportunities to best grow and diversify the province’s critical minerals sector.

Saskatchewan ranked first in Canada for mining investment attractiveness, according to the Fraser Institute's Annual Survey of Mining Companies: 2022. The province is home to occurrences of 23 of the 31 critical minerals on Canada’s list and the world’s largest deposits of potash and high-grade uranium.

The province’s mining industry also posted the highest value of sales on record in 2022 – eclipsing the previous record by more than double. Mineral sales for fiscal 2022 were over $19.4 billion with exploration expenditures of $291.6 million and the survey exploration spending intentions of more than $300 million for 2023.

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