Canada and Japan are working on a range of mining projects, including potential joint stockpiling, Canada’s trade minister told ​Reuters, as Japan moves to diversify supplies of critical minerals ‌and reduce dependence on China.

Ottawa and Tokyo are in talks on options for cooperation including joint mining projects, off-take agreements and stockpiling arrangements for minerals such ​as graphite and gallium, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said in ​an interview.

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“We’re offering Japan that avenue to do more with ⁠Canada in terms of critical minerals,” he said.

He cited as an ​example of partnership an off-take agreement between Nouveau Monde Graphite and Panasonic for graphite, a key material for batteries.

Sidhu is in Tokyo leading Canada’s trade mission, with a delegation of roughly 300 members from nearly 180 companies and organisations - ​the North American country’s largest of its kind in the Asia-Pacific.

Japan, along ​with Western governments and manufacturers, has been seeking to secure supplies of rare-earth minerals ‌to ⁠reduce dependency on China, the world’s dominant rare earths producer and supplier.

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