Pay-the-Rich Scheme: Part of the "Green Economy"In its January 14 press release, Rio Tinto announced that it "is investing U.S.$6 million for the construction of a first module in the plant, with an initial capacity to produce three tonnes of scandium oxide per year, or approximately 20 per cent of the current global market." The government of Quebec will contribute to the project to the tune of approximately $850,000 within the framework of the $68-million pay-the-rich scheme announced last October by the Legault government as the "Québec Plan for the Development of Critical and Strategic Minerals 2020-2025 for a greener Quebec."[1] In its October 24, 2020 issue, The Marxist-Leninist Weekly had already highlighted how the federal and Quebec governments responded to the Trump administration's call to secure a supply chain for minerals critical to the U.S. war economy.[2] By integrating, among other things, the Canadian rail network with the North American rail network, the economies of Canada and Quebec are being prepared to participate in the increasingly fierce inter-monopoly and inter-imperialist rivalry for the control of sources of raw material, commodities, markets and spheres of interest. This is how Quebec's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonatan Julien, qualified the Rio Tinto announcement: "RTFT's scandium oxide valorization project is a concrete example of how we can extract value from our mining wastes. It demonstrates our ability to innovate and seize business opportunities in a growing market as we strive to ensure secure supplies of critical minerals. This business has the potential to become a major scandium supplier outside China."[3] Rio Tinto Fer et Titane (RTFT) already operates an open-pit ilmenite mine in Quebec at Lac Tio, near Havre-Saint-Pierre, on the North Shore, which is the largest ilmenite deposit in the world (see location "A" on the Quebec map). The ore is then sent by ship to its metallurgical complex in Sorel-Tracy, where titanium dioxide, pig iron, steel and world-class metal powders are extracted (see location "B" on the Quebec map). In total, nearly 1,650 workers are employed at these two Quebec sites. Rio Tinto is currently testing the production of small quantities of a high-performance aluminum-scandium master alloy using scandium oxide produced by RTFT, with the support of its aluminum sector based in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region in Quebec (see location "C" on the Quebec map). |
