A critical mineral mining project owned by a First Nation is closer to its goal of positioning Manitoba as the “magnesium capital of Canada.”

The project has received an amended environmental licence from the province, Minago Development GP Inc. said in a news release Monday.

Kinosao Sipi, also known as Norway House Cree Nation, took full ownership of the former Minago nickel project in the Thompson nickel belt in November 2024. The project was rebranded after magnesium and other platinum-group metals were discovered.

It is Canada’s first critical minerals project to be fully owned by a First Nation, the province said in a news release last week. The project is now licensed to produce 10,000 tonnes of materials per day, but the project’s planning and financing still need to be finished, Minago said in Monday’s release.

The amended licence comes more than a decade after one of the project’s previous owners faced court action from Kinosao Sipi about allegedly inadequate protections for the Lake Winnipeg watershed, Minago said.

The previous owners notified the province in 2014 of proposed changes to address Kinosao Sipi’s concerns. The concerns included moving a facility outside the Lake Winnipeg watershed and stopping water from being discharged to the watershed via the site, Minago said.

More changes to the project were proposed under new owners in 2022, including the addition of water discharge treatment, Minago said.

The province later began consultations on the proposed changes with Kinosao Sipi, three nearby First Nations communities — Misipawistik Cree Nation, Mosakahiken Cree Nation and Pimicikamak Cree Nation — and the Manitoba Métis Federation, Minago said.

Using the ‘entire animal’

The project is now closer to its goal of providing Canada with critical minerals, particularly magnesium, Minago said.

Magnesium is on Canada’s critical mineral list. It’s primarily used to blend with aluminum in order to construct automobiles and machinery, Manitoba’s critical mineral strategy says.

Jim Rondeau, a former Manitoba NDP cabinet minister who is now the major projects director for Kinosao Sipi, previously told CBC News the facility could begin producing magnesium in 2027, but getting there could cost around $1.3 billion.

A 2011 assessment by the project’s previous owners estimated it could produce more than $20 billion a year, Rondeau said. He said the number could skyrocket because of the recently discovered platinum-group metals.

Minago says the project’s first phase is to quarry the Minago dolomite to use in the production of magnesium.

The site’s dolomite, sandstone and granite must be quarried before its nickel deposit in order to align with the First Nation’s principle of using the “entire animal” that is harvested, Minago said.

Kinosao Sipi is committed to protecting nearby lands, water and air from mining operations while helping to end poverty in the region by creating hundreds of new jobs, the release says.

The project received $2 million in financial support from the province, the government said last week.

The money is to support the project’s first phase in developing a low-emission magnesium processing facility that the province said will be the first of its kind in Canada.

The first phase is expected to create 20 permanent jobs, as well as training for more than 50 First Nation participants, the province said.