The Japanese conglomerate will acquire a 7.5 per cent stake in the project, with an option to increase it to 25 per cent in a joint venture with Frontier Lithium. In a release, the companies said the venture will be the first fully integrated lithium mining and processing operation in Ontario. (The Logic)

Talking point: The announcement is one of a slew of critical mineral news expected as mining executives and dealmakers gather in Toronto at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference. Mercedes-Benz supplier Rock Tech Lithium announced an investment in what it says is Ontario’s first lithium converter, and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Magneto Investments is to receive $4.5 million in federal funding. Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm also said the mining giant is eyeing more lithium investments in Canada, and Jérôme Pécresse, the firm’s chief executive of aluminum operations, said it’s interested in technologies to better extract scandium, a rare-earth metal, and gallium, a key metal in semiconductors.