First Phosphate Corp. (CSE:PHOS, OTCQX:FRSPF, FRA:KD0) said it welcomed an amendment to Canada’s 2025 federal budget that adds phosphate to the country’s list of critical minerals essential for clean technology.
The amendment, which passed this week, makes phosphate exploration and downstream processing eligible for federal programs aimed at supporting critical mineral development, including two refundable tax credits.
Under the Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, investors in junior mining companies can receive a 30% refundable tax credit on targeted exploration expenses.
The Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit offers a 30% refundable credit to corporations investing in new machinery and equipment for clean technology manufacturing or critical mineral processing.
First Phosphate said the exploration credit would support fundraising efforts tied to advancing its mineral properties in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec and further delineating the district-level phosphate zone there.
The manufacturing tax credit would aid in developing infrastructure linked to mining operations and planned downstream facilities, including a proposed phosphoric acid plant and a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active material plant.
The company thanked members of Canada’s Standing Committee on Finance and Standing Committee on Natural Resources for backing the move, noting that phosphate now plays a key role in high-technology applications in addition to fertilizers.
First Phosphate recently produced commercial-grade LFP 18650 battery cells using North American critical minerals. It said the high-purity phosphoric acid used in those cells was derived from rare igneous anorthosite rock extracted from its Bégin-Lamarche property in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec.