Mining
A vast territory to discover
Québec covers 1.7 million km², a huge area with tremendous mineral potential. And it's wide open for exploration and development:
- Mineral exploration rights have been granted for only 5% of the territory.
- Mineral extraction rights have been granted for only 1%.
As at December 31, 2017, there were 150,000 active mining titles in Québec, representing a total surface area of 7.63 million hectares or 4.58% of the province.
A wealth of mineral resources
Québec abounds in resources essential to our modern lifestyle, including copper, nickel, platinum-group metals, zinc, diamonds, lithium, granite, phosphate and more.
- According to Technology Metals Research
, an American company specializing in the strategic metals sector, eight of the world’s 50 highest-potential rare-earths projects are in Québec. - Abitibi, one of Québec’s main mining regions, is world-renowned for the number and quality of its deposits of precious metal (gold) and polymetallic ore (copper and zinc).
- The Labrador Trough contains major deposits of iron as well as numerous deposits of copper, nickel and platinum-group metals.
A first diamond mine in Québec
Located in north-central Québec, the Renard Diamond Mine is Québec's first producing diamond mine and Canada's sixth-largest. Stornoway Diamond announced the first production of one million carats of diamonds in May 2017, at the same time the first polished diamonds from the mine became available for sale in Montréal. Now operating at full capacity, the mine will produce an average of 1.8 million carats a year over the next 10 years.
The Plan Nord: Investing in the future
The Plan Nord opens up a totally new area to mining exploration: a vast tract of land lying north of the 49th parallel, constituting over 70% of the area of Québec. This relatively undeveloped region holds out the promise of fantastically rich mineral resources.
Sustainable developmentExpand/Collapse
The Plan Nord is an exemplary sustainable development initiative, combining energy, mining, forestry, bio-food, tourism and road development while not losing sight of wildlife enhancement, environmental protection and the preservation of biodiversity.
Respect for communitiesExpand/Collapse
The territory will be developed respectfully, in cooperation with the communities that live there. The ultimate goal is to ensure prosperity for all Quebecers.