Junior miner First Phosphate Corp., Saguenay, Quebec, announced on Oct. 12 that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Port of Saguenay, which it said is a further step in the implementation of the company’s six-phase integration plan for the North American lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery market.
The MOU engages discussions between the parties to provide the company with potential deep sea access to ship phosphate concentrate internationally and greenfield land on which to build its facilities. The company noted that the MOU comes on the heels of the re-election of Quebec Premier Francois Legault, who has committed to invest C$117.2 million in infrastructure at the port.
First Phosphate holds 1,500 square kilometers of total land claims in the Saguenay Region some 110 kilometers north of the City of Saguenay, which it is actively developing to produce battery grade phosphate at ESG standards and with a low-carbon footprint. It said it has received promising assay results confirming the presence of high-grade phosphate, and is expecting to announce its 43-101 technical report results later this fall.
Last month the company partnered on a research initiative with the Pufahl Research Group at Canada’s Queen’s University that it said will provide new data on the economic potential of the deposit as a rich source of clean phosphate for the LFP battery market.
On Sept. 28, the company announced the appointment of Peter Kent as its new president. He is a former international journalist and Canadian Member of Parliament. He joined the Board of Directors in August.
The company said Kent brought more than four decades of experience as an international broadcast journalist, reporter, and producer at CTV, CBC, NBC, Monitor, and Global. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Thornhill, Ontario in the 2008 federal election, a position he held until he chose to leave public office in 2021. While in Parliament, he served as Minister of State for the Americas (2008-2011), and as Minister of the Environment (2011-2013).