First Phosphate Corp. (CSE:PHOS, OTCQX:FRSPF) on Monday welcomed the US Department of the Interior’s decision to designate phosphate as a critical mineral.
The addition of phosphate to the Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals, announced by the US Geological Survey (USGS) last week, aligns the US with Canada, South Korea, the European Union, and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, which already recognize the mineral’s strategic importance.
The Interior Department said the decision was based on input from the US Departments of Energy, Defense, and Agriculture.
During the USGS comment period, First Phosphate submitted a 15-page letter emphasizing phosphate’s role in the rapidly expanding lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery market, which powers energy storage systems, electric mobility, robotics, and national security infrastructure.
The company also noted it had recently received a “Met” rating from the Defense Industrial Base Consortium for its white paper on securing North American phosphate supply for LFP cathode materials.
First Phosphate’s flagship Bégin-Lamarche property in Quebec’s Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region is among the few known igneous phosphate deposits in North America, producing high-purity phosphate suitable for cathode active material in LFP batteries.
The company said it has successfully produced commercial-grade LFP 18650 battery cells using critical minerals sourced entirely from North America, including high-purity phosphoric acid and iron powder derived from anorthosite rock at Bégin-Lamarche.