The Mining Association of Canada | The Canadian Mining Story: Economic Impacts and Drivers for the Global Energy Transition 2023 16 PROCESSING MINERALS Once materials are mined, they must be processed to obtain a product that is useful to the consumer. This processing may include: • Smelting, which removes metal from ore by heating it, often in the presence of other materials to oxidize or reduce the target metal. • Secondary smelting, which is similar, but uses recycled material as a feedstock rather than mined ore. • Refining, which removes impurities frommetals by chemical or physical processes. Canada has a significant mineral-processing industry, with 29 non-ferrous metal smelters, refineries and conversion facilities in six provinces. Canada’s processing industry is summarized in Figure 4. Canada’s integrated smelters and refineries were originally built near mines, which were mostly inland, without access to affordable marine transport. As local ore reserves become depleted and the production of base metal concentrate declines, these smelters and refineries must move from integrated production to the more expensive custom treatment of concentrates imported from other countries. As another method of addressing declining local ore reserves, Canada’s refineries and smelters are using more secondary raw materials and scrap feed. This re-use of materials helps with sustainability but is more expensive than using raw mined materials. Province Processing Facilities Quebec Ten smelters, two refineries, one secondary smelter, one refinery/ secondary smelter Ontario Four refineries, two secondary smelters, one conversion facility, one smelter/refinery/plant, and one smelter/plant British Columbia One smelter, one secondary smelter, and one smelter/refinery/plant Alberta One refinery Manitoba One refinery Newfoundland and Labrador One refinery Figure 4: Non-Ferrous Smelters and Refineries in Canada by Province10 Figure 5: Canadian Refined Metals Production, Selected Metals, 2005 Production = 10011 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Nickel Aluminum Zinc Cobalt Cadmium Copper Lead 10 Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Minerals and Mining Map. 11 Data since 2020 from Statistics Canada, Production and shipments of metallic minerals, monthly, table 16-10-001901, previous years from Natural Resources Canada. Data for 2021 is preliminary.
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