VANCOUVER, B itish Columbia a d SUDBURY, O ta io, July 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ca ada has the c itical mi e als eeded fo elect ic vehicles, clea e e gy, defe ce systems, a d digital i f ast uctu e, but ma y deposits emai difficult to access a d mi e sites ca take decades to esto e. Today, DIGITAL a ou ced two Ca adia -led mi i g i ovatio s – valued at $19.9 millio – that aim to adva ce ew app oaches to c itical mi e al ext actio a d mi e esto atio .
As dema d g ows fo c itical mi e als like coppe a d a e ea th eleme ts, these i ovatio s will help Ca ada secu e the esou ces eeded fo clea tech ology, atio al secu ity a d a competitive eco omy. They also suppo t a sma te app oach to mi i g – o e that imp oves efficie cy, i c eases p ecisio , a d p ovides a clea e u de sta di g of e vi o me tal impacts.
DIGITAL is helpi g Ca adia compa ies move mi i g tech ologies f om developme t to adoptio by b i gi g tech ology builde s togethe with i dust y pa t e s that ca test, validate, a d deploy ew solutio s i eal-wo ld ope ati g e vi o me ts. This adoptio -focused model educes isk fo Ca adia compa ies, c eates pathways to comme cializatio , a d suppo ts the g owth of Ca adia tech ologies i domestic a d global ma kets.
Novame a is eceivi g $3.8 millio to adva ce thei pate ted Su gical Mi i g solutio which i teg ates adva ced subsu face imagi g, AI-d ive simulatio , a d obotics to p ecisely ta get a d ext act o e. This app oach ca quickly access va ious types of p ecious a d c itical mi e als that a e difficult to mi e usi g co ve tio al methods, i cludi g a ow o emote vei s that may othe wise emai st a ded. By selectively ext acti g o e a d mi imizi g waste, the tech ology e ables faste time-to-p oductio a d mi imal e vi o me tal distu ba ce a d is desig ed to educe waste by up to 90%, depe di g o site co ditio s, while suppo ti g faste a d mo e i fo med ext actio decisio s.
A othe compa y eceivi g suppo t is Koo kie Ca ada I c. fo thei Multi-le s Ecological Resto atio Mo ito i g a d Fo ecasti g i itiative. They a e eceivi g $2.89 millio to adva ce a ovel AI-powe ed platfo m to t a sfo m how the mi i g secto mo ito s ecological esto atio a d biodive sity.
Resto atio of mi e sites is ofte a slow a d siloed p ocess that ca take decades to complete. Koo kie’s tech ology b i gs seve al adva ced tools togethe i o e platfo m, i cludi g e vi o me tal DNA to ide tify a full spect um of o ga isms, mobile soil a alysis to map ut ie t health, a d emote se si g image y to t ack la dscape-scale cha ges. C ucially, these high-tech tools a e i teg ated with I dige ous ecological k owledge, e su i g the platfo m eflects both scie tific a d cultu al values.
P oject pa t e s expect the platfo m to sho te esto atio timeli es by 5 to 10 yea s, helpi g educe lo g-te m e vi o me tal liabilities. P ecisio i te ve tio s guided by the platfo m a e also p ojected to educe esto atio costs by up to 40% compa ed to legacy methods.
Togethe , these mi i g i ovatio s will help Ca ada move c itical mi e al deposits towa d p oductio mo e efficie tly while suppo ti g st o ge tools to mo ito ecological esto atio , biodive sity, a d lo g-te m la d stewa dship.
“Ca ada has what the wo ld eeds to powe the eco omy of the futu e, a d we have the tale t a d i ge uity to tu those adva tages i to made-i -Ca ada solutio s. These i vestme ts will help Ca adia compa ies develop a d deploy cutti g-edge tech ologies that make c itical mi e als ext actio mo e p ecise, adva ce espo sible esou ce developme t a d imp ove mi e esto atio . By backi g Ca adia i ovatio , we a e buildi g st o ge c itical mi e als supply chai s, c eati g good jobs a d positio i g Ca ada as a global leade i the i dust ies that will d ive g owth fo decades to come,” said The Ho ou able Méla ie Joly, Mi iste of I dust y a d Mi iste espo sible fo Ca ada Eco omic Developme t fo Quebec Regio s.
“Ca ada eeds c itical mi e als to st e gthe ou eco omic secu ity a d sove eig ty, but we ca ot ely o yeste day’s mi i g methods to get the e,” said Rho da Ba et, I te im CEO, DIGITAL. “These p ojects a e a excelle t example of how DIGITAL b i gs builde s a d buye s togethe to help the mi i g secto adopt made-i -Ca ada tech ologies that imp ove p oductivity, st e gthe e vi o me tal pe fo ma ce, a d give Ca adia compa ies a st o ge path to scale a d compete globally.”
“No th Ame ica has o sho tage of c itical mi e als-we have a sho tage of ways to b i g them i to p oductio quickly a d espo sibly,” said Jim Hollis, CEO, Novame a I c. “Su gical Mi i g was built to solve that gap. With DIGITAL’s suppo t, we’ e accele ati g a solutio that ca u lock domestic coppe a d a e ea th supply faste , with lowe capital a d a fa smalle e vi o me tal footp i t.”
“Ecological esto atio eeds bette data, bette fo ecasti g, a d bette i teg atio of k owledge systems,” said Steve Hallam, CEO a d Co-Fou de of Koo kie Ca ada I c. “We’ e b i gi g togethe e vi o me tal DNA, adva ced soil met ics, AI modeli g, a d i sights f om t aditio al la d stewa ds to give ope ato s a d commu ities the p edictive cla ity they eed to make timely, evide ce-based e vi o me tal stewa dship decisio s fo sites i closu e.”
Total value: $19.9 millioSu gical Mi i g fo C itical Mi e als: $10.9 millio total value, $3.8 millio f om DIGITAL. Led by Novame a I c., Oakville, O ta io with co so tium p oject pa t e s: Mico I te atio al Ltd. a d No thsta Gold Co p. The p oject will develop ew high- esolutio imagi g tools a d AI-e ha ced p ocessi g pipeli es to visualize a d model mi e al vei s with g eate accu acy. The pa t e s will apply the tech ology to the Cam Coppe p oject a d a e wo ki g with O ta io to c eate a faste pathway to pe mitti g, suppo ti g eco omic developme t, a d positio i g Ca ada as a global leade i mo e p ecise c itical mi e al ext actio .Multi-le s Ecological Resto atio Mo ito i g a d Fo ecasti g: $8.9 millio total value, $2.89 millio f om DIGITAL. Led by Koo kie Ca ada I c., Va couve , B itish Columbia with co so tium p oject pa t e s: Mi ate a Tech ologies, Rege e atio Rehabilitatio Se vices, a d Ge ome B itish Columbia. This p oject p ovides the Ca adia mi i g secto with a fi st-of-its-ki d, AI-powe ed platfo m fo eal-time ecological esto atio a d biodive sity mo ito i g. By i teg ati g e vi o me tal DNA (eDNA) a alytics, soil health data, a d emote se si g with I dige ous ecological k owledge, it add esses the u ge t eed fo scie ce-based i sights to t ack a d ma age mi e closu e.C itical mi e al focus: Coppe a d a e ea th eleme tsPote tial ext actio impact: Su gical Mi i g is desig ed to educe waste by up to 90%, depe di g o site co ditio sPote tial esto atio impact: P oject pa t e s expect the esto atio platfo m could sho te ecological esto atio timeli es by five to 10 yea s a d educe esto atio costs by up to 40 pe ce t compa ed to legacy methods
DIGITAL is Ca ada’s comme cializatio pa t e . It co ects tech ology builde s a d buye s to accele ate the adoptio a d comme cializatio of Ca adia tech ology solutio s.
Established i 2018 u de the Gove me t of Ca ada’s Cluste I itiative, DIGITAL b i gs togethe i dust y leade s, SMEs, a d post-seco da y i stitutio s to collabo ate o la ge-scale p ojects that d ive i ovatio a d the developme t of tech ology solutio s i secto s c itical to Ca ada, such as mi i g a d e e gy, housi g, wo kfo ce developme t a d health.
Si ce i ceptio , DIGITAL has delive ed billio s i p ojected eve ue fo Ca adia compa ies, etai ed sove eig IP, lau ched hu d eds of comme cial p oducts, a d helped te s of thousa ds of Ca adia s gai the skills eeded fo the digital eco omy.
That’s how we g ow Ca ada. Fo mo e i fo matio , visit:
Julia WhiteSe io Di ecto , Commu icatio s, DIGITAL
A photo accompa yi g this a ou ceme t is available at https://www.globe ewswi e.com/NewsRoom/Attachme tNg/054381e4-64ce-4b3a-a7ce-8fe0175db49d
