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Canada Funds First Phosphate & Incentivizes Domestic Phosphate Production with CEO John Passalacqua

MiningStockEducation.com Mar 8, 2026

Summary

A C$16.7M non-repayable federal grant de-risks the company through feasibility, permitting and a final investment decision.

LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries are 60% phosphate by mass, and battery-grade supply comes from scarce igneous rock.

Siting 70 km from the Sagné deep-sea port with power, road and a commuting workforce cuts infrastructure capex most critical-mineral projects must fund.

Phosphate joined Canada's clean-tech A-list, unlocking a 30% refundable tax credit that reduces capex for downstream processing.

A 10,000 tonne-per-year cathode plant concept is paused until Canada-US tariff rulings settle, with Europe leading offtake interest.

Bill Powers's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Powers argues the United States was notably left out of the Canadian critical minerals event he attended, given that roughly 75% of Canada's exports and transactions are with the US, while European Union and European Investment Bank representatives were present.
  • He discloses that he invested personally in the sponsor's shares last year and notes that the CEO and board are paid entirely in shares.

John Passalacqua's takeaways

  • Top takeaway His central argument is that the shares are undervalued at roughly 5% of the preliminary economic assessment NPV, and that clear Canadian government support raises the odds the mine is built, leaving substantial upside.
  • His thesis on demand: only about 4% of an LFP battery is lithium while roughly 60% of the cathode is high-purity phosphate that fertilizer-grade rock cannot supply, and around 75% of batteries produced worldwide are lithium iron phosphate.
  • He argues that location decides which critical mineral projects ever get built, and that the company's Quebec resource, about 70 km from a deep-sea port and 2 km from a highway with hydro and a nearby workforce, avoids the infrastructure capex trap facing remote lithium and other finds.
  • He says he wants to build a phosphate-based critical mineral supply for North America and Europe, that his leading offtakers are European with Belgian authorities appearing at the funding announcement, and that the company is also working with the United States while tariff rulings are pending.
  • On capital structure he presents the 10-to-1 ADR as a trailblazer that brings US institutions in, and says he and the board buy stock because management is paid in shares and shareholders should see that alignment.