Both countries appoint special envoys to oversee the international partnership and advance projects of mutual interest

When Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Germany, the two leaders had many geopolitical issues to discuss. But the biggest takeaway from the meeting was an agreement for the two countries to work together to develop critical mineral resources.

The resulting Joint Declaration of Intent between Canada and Germany on Critical Minerals Cooperation outlines a number of objectives including strengthening the critical minerals value chain, especially midstream technologies such as mineral processing, refining, and recycling; prioritizing development of lithium, rare earth elements, copper, tungsten, gallium, germanium, and nickel; and encouraging both public investments and commercial partnerships between Canadian and German companies and governments.

“Canada has immense potential to be a leading and reliable global supplier of critical minerals, and Canada and Germany are natural strategic partners in this mission,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a press statement.

“As Germany’s domestic demand for critical minerals grows and it diversifies its supply chains, Canadian workers and industries can be the strong, stable provider of these indispensable resources.”

Many of the critical minerals covered under the agreement are used in EV battery manufacturing.

Deepening ties

The Joint Declaration builds on groundwork established earlier this year at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta.

At that meeting Carney introduced the Critical Minerals Production Alliance, which the federal government describes as a “Canada-led initiative that leverages trusted international partnerships to enhance critical mineral supply chains for collective defence and advanced technology.”

The roadmap to achieve that goal with Germany includes better coordination between the two countries’ supply chains and take steps to ensure their resiliency.

There is also an eye to tapping into existing funding bodies, such as the German Raw Materials Fund managed by KfW and Canada’s Clean Growth and Strategic Innovation Funds to support investment in commercially viable projects. Canada and Germany will also “share best practices and exchange [information] on standards on ESG, traceability, and permitting processes.”

Each country also named a special envoy to oversea the relationship.

Isabella Chan, senior assistant deputy minister for the Lands and Minerals Sector at Natural Resources Canada will act on Canada’s behalf. For Germany, it will be Matthias Koehler, the German government’s deputy director general of raw materials policy.

In addition to the Joint Declaration, several other recent deals have been struck between Canada and Germany. These include:

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by German smelting and recycling company, Aurubis AG, to purchase copper concentrate from Toronto-based Troilus Gold Corporation;
• An agreement by Montreal-based Torngat Metals to supply fully traceable and responsibly produced, separated rare-earth oxides to rare-earth permanent magnet producer Hanau-based, Vacuumschmelze;
• A MOU that will see Canadian-German cleantech company Rock Tech Lithium connect its lithium conversion plant in Guben, Germany to solar and offshore wind farms run by Enertrag.