Diversified major Rio Tinto will invest C$7.6-million in an industrial demonstration project aimed at assessing the integration of ore sorting technology at its Lac Tio mine, in Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec, as part of efforts to improve resource efficiency and reduce emissions.

The Quebec government will support the initiative with a C$2.5-million contribution through its Support Programme for the Scale-up of Mineral Processing or Primary Transformation for Critical and Strategic Minerals. The programme is administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests.

The project will evaluate a technology designed to sort ore at the extraction site based on titanium and scandium content – both classified as critical and strategic minerals. By distinguishing between commercially valuable ore and waste rock more precisely, the technology could reduce the volume of material transported to the Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium (RTIT) metallurgical and critical minerals complex in Sorel-Tracy. This, in turn, is expected to lower greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce transportation and processing costs.

“The use of ore sorting technology represents a tangible opportunity to optimise our processes right from the extraction stage, allowing us to maximise value from our resources, while reducing the emissions associated with transporting and processing ore,” said RTIT and diamonds MD Sophie Bergeron.

“The support from the government of Quebec highlights the key role that Rio Tinto plays in the critical and strategic minerals production essential to the energy transition. It is also a unifying project for our employees, the community of Havre-Saint-Pierre and the community of Ekuanitshit, with whom we share a desire to evolve our practices in a responsible manner,” she added.

Quebec Minister of Natural Resources and Forests Maïté Blanchette Vézina said the government was “proud to support Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium in its ore valorisation project”.

“In addition to encouraging innovation through the creation of new processes or the improvement of existing ones, this type of initiative helps accelerate the transformation of critical and strategic minerals in Quebec, reinforcing the province’s position as a global leader,” she stated.

“In a complex geopolitical context and growing global demand for minerals, we must seize these opportunities to advance Quebec’s mining projects.”

The full-scale demonstration will also assess improvements to the ore pre-treatment process at the Sorel-Tracy plant, enhance mineral resource management, and unlock zones of the deposit previously deemed uneconomic, potentially paving the way for a revised mining plan and an extended mine life.

The initiative will be rolled out in two phases. In 2025, efforts will focus on engineering, commissioning the ore sorting circuit and validating the technology. In 2026, further equipment will be added to automate the process and produce multiple batches of enriched ore.