Canadian miner moves to UAE as Ottawa raises bar for foreign investment
A Canadian graphite miner has moved its headquarters outside the country to attract new investment as the federal government raises the bar for certain foreign companies to buy into Canada’s critical minerals sector.
Falcon Energy Materials PLC — formerly known as SRG Mining Inc. — completed its move to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in early July, but it will continue to be listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.
“The equity markets in Canada are tough at the moment,” chief executive Matthieu Bos said. “The Middle East is booming on all fronts. It’s an interesting place to do business … let’s just pick up shop and look where the money is, where the desire is to really make this (electric vehicle) value chain.”
Falcon’s move comes after Ottawa began introducing policies that make it harder for foreign firms to invest in Canadian companies looking to produce minerals such as lithium, graphite or copper, which are considered important for the energy transition away from coal since they are used to make batteries for electric vehicles.
Earlier this month, the federal government said transactions involving foreign companies looking to buy large Canadian miners producing these minerals would only be approved “in the most exceptional” circumstances.
In October 2022, Ottawa said investments from foreign state-owned companies in Canadian critical minerals could also be considered injurious to national security. A few days later, it ordered three Chinese companies to exit three Canadian lithium firms.
In response, Canada’s mining sector has said the government needs to provide miners with alternate access to investments since it has banned funding from certain sources. A failure to do so could lead to more companies looking to
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