First Phosphate Corp. said on August 5, 2026 that it has finalized agreements for $4.84 million in non-repayable contributions from the Government of Canada to fund infrastructure studies tied to its Bégin-Lamarche phosphate deposit in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec.
The money comes from Natural Resources Canada's First and Last Mile Fund, a federal program aimed at transport and energy links serving critical minerals projects. Non-repayable means the company is not required to pay the funds back, unlike a loan.
The contributions split into two parts. About $3.07 million covers a power transmission study, including site selection, connection corridors, a feasibility study and the design of a 161-kV transmission line and substations. According to the release, that work also includes cost estimates, environmental studies and consultation with the public and Indigenous groups.
The second component, roughly $1.77 million, funds road work preparation: pre-feasibility and feasibility studies covering technical, environmental and economic aspects, design work, a traffic analysis and consultation. The stated aim is a new access road plus an option for upgrading bypass roads linking the proposed mine to rail and the Port of Saguenay.
Both awards pay for studies and preparatory work rather than construction. Eligible activities run through 2030 under the terms of the agreement, the company said.
The funding adds to $16.7 million made available by NRCan in March 2026 through the Global Partnerships Initiative for the same deposit, bringing disclosed federal support for Bégin-Lamarche to roughly $21.5 million.
First Phosphate did not disclose the total cost of either the transmission line or the road, nor what share of eligible costs the contributions represent. It also did not state a construction timeline or a schedule for completing the studies. No capital budget for the deposit was given in the release.
Armand MacKenzie, president of First Phosphate, said the federal support "sends a strong message to our investors and partners in Quebec, Canada, and internationally."
The company describes Bégin-Lamarche as an igneous phosphate resource with low impurity levels, and says it is working toward a mine-to-market supply chain for lithium iron phosphate battery material in North America. That plan remains at the exploration and development stage; the release contains no production, revenue or reserve figures.
The scientific and technical disclosure was reviewed by Steeve Lavoie, P.Geo., the company's chief geologist and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.
First Phosphate trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange under PHOS, with secondary listings on the OTCQX in the United States and in Frankfurt.
Source: Newsfile
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