First Phosphate Corp. announces that it has finalized an industrial land option agreement with Port of Saguenay.
The Agreement marks progress on the memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) signed between the Company and the Port on October 12, 2022. Under the Agreement, First Phosphate has the exclusive right to enter into a definitive land lease with the Port by December 31, 2027, subject to various financial and development milestones and prior to anticipated facility construction beginning in 2028.
“This agreement with First Phosphate confirms the strategic advantages and role of the Port of Saguenay as a natural logistics hub in northeastern Canada for the development of the critical minerals sector,” commented Carl Laberge, President and CEO of Port Saguenay. “It follows major investments and infrastructure projects currently underway in its industrial port zone and is in line with the collaboration agreement recently signed with North Sea Port, a strategic port area in Europe.”
The Agreement covers lands where the Company plans to develop a phosphoric acid plant using advanced clean technology from Prayon SA of Belgium and to be implemented by international engineering firm Ballestra S.pA. of Italy. These lands offer strategic benefits and a competitive position, including:
- Direct rail and vessel access to North American and global markets, especially to the company’s European offtakers
- Access to large-scale industrial infrastructure, utilities and expansion lands
- Eventual vertical integration between upstream phosphoric acid and downstream LFP battery material production
“Our government’s ongoing investments in Port Saguenay will enable companies such as First Phosphate to process phosphate into phosphoric acid right here in Saguenay,” said Andrée Laforest, Member of Parliament for Chicoutimi, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Minister responsible for the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, and François Tremblay, Member of Parliament for Dubuc.
“The new Government of Canada supports the development of critical minerals and the infrastructure needed to support them. Phosphate has been included by the federal government in the Canadian list of critical minerals to open doors for phosphate projects across Canada,” said Claude Guay, Member of Parliament for LaSalle-Émard-Verdun and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
The Agreement was signed today in Montreal at the premises of the Wallonia Export & Investment Agency. In attendance for the signing were:
- Claude Guay, Member of Parliament for LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Canada
- Mario Simard, Member of Parliament for Jonquière, Vice-Chair, Standing Committee on Natural Resources, Canada
- Andrée Laforest, Deputy, Chicoutimi, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Government of Quebec
- François Tremblay, Deputy, Dubuc, Government of Quebec
- Anne Defourny, Trade/Investment Counsellor, Wallonia Export & Investment Agency
- Carl Laberge, President and Board Chair, Port Saguenay
- John Passalacqua, CEO, First Phosphate Corp.
- David Dufour, Executive Vice-President, First Phosphate Corp.
Source: First Phosphate