Canada backs Novamera, Koonkie mining projects with C$6.7 million

Canada will provide C$6.7 million in federal support for two mining-technology projects led by Novamera and Koonkie Canada, aimed at improving critical-minerals extraction and mine-site restoration.

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly announced the funding on July 9 in Sudbury, Ontario. The two projects have a combined value of C$19.8 million and are backed through DIGITAL, Canada's Global Innovation Cluster for digital technologies.

The larger award goes to Oakville-based Novamera, which will receive C$3.8 million toward a C$10.9 million project to advance its Surgical Mining technology. The company says the system combines subsurface imaging, artificial intelligence, robotics and conventional drilling equipment to access deposits with greater precision. The federal government said the work targets critical-mineral deposits including copper and rare earth elements.

Vancouver-based Koonkie Canada will receive C$2.9 million toward an C$8.9 million project to develop an AI-powered platform for ecological restoration and biodiversity monitoring at mine sites. According to the federal announcement, the platform will integrate environmental DNA analysis, soil health data, remote sensing and Indigenous ecological knowledge.

Project partners expect Koonkie's system could shorten ecological restoration timelines by five to 10 years and reduce restoration costs by up to 40% compared with legacy methods. Those figures remain project targets rather than demonstrated sector-wide results.

The government said the two projects are expected to create as many as 35 jobs and maintain as many as 37 jobs.

The award is small relative to Canada's broader critical-minerals spending, but it points to the technologies Ottawa is willing to support as it tries to build domestic supply chains and speed mine development. In recorded remarks around the Sudbury event, Joly tied the funding to the federal government's wider major projects approach and faster permitting efforts.

Both projects address areas that affect mining economics beyond commodity prices. Novamera's precision extraction model is designed to improve recovery from narrower or harder-to-access deposits while limiting disturbance. If deployed successfully, that could support lower waste volumes, smaller operating footprints and better project economics for some deposits that are difficult to mine conventionally.

Koonkie's platform addresses a different pressure point. Restoration performance and closure liabilities have become more important in project approvals, community acceptance and long-term cost estimates. A system that improves biodiversity monitoring and speeds reclamation could help operators manage those liabilities more predictably.

The funding adds to earlier public backing for Novamera's technology. DIGITAL previously said it had pledged C$4.0 million in co-investment funding for separate work tied to Novamera's Surgical Mining platform in North America, including copper and rare-earth applications. Northstar Gold Corp. (CSE: NSG) has said its Cam Copper Surgical Mining for Critical Minerals Project, led with Novamera, was approved for up to C$4.0 million in DIGITAL co-investment. That is a separate initiative from the July 9 announcement.

Ottawa said the latest awards will help move Canadian mining technologies from development into real-world deployment. For investors, the immediate financial impact is limited. The clearer signal is policy direction: precision extraction, AI-based environmental monitoring and tools that could support faster permitting remain areas of federal interest within Canada's critical-minerals strategy.