The province budgeted $24 million over three years for its Junior Exploration Program, including $12 million for critical minerals as part of a five-year plan for the sector. (The Logic)

Talking point: The upsized fund will likely come as a relief for junior miners that have faced a cash crunch. In addition to promising to release a critical-minerals strategy, Ontario’s 2021 budget set aside $5 million over two years for the junior-support program and handed out about $2.1 million in its first intake after “overwhelming demand.” The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada previously told The Logic that besides nickel and copper, minerals associated with EV batteries, like lithium and cobalt, represented less than three per cent of exploration spending in the industry nationwide last year, a figure that needed to grow. Ontario’s new critical minerals plan also lays out goals for talent, Indigenous partners, R&D, regulation, supply chains and geoscience information. It follows Quebec’s five-year strategy, which it released in 2020.