Shares of Canada’s critical minerals players took a hit on...

Shares of Canada’s critical minerals players took a hit on Monday as investors assessed the impact of new restrictions on large mergers and acquisitions in the sector.On Thursday last week, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne approved Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN) multi-billion-dollar takeover of Teck Resources’ (NYSE:TECK) steelmaking coal division, adding that Canada would only allow similarly large deals in the future under “the most exceptional circumstances”.

Canada has a list of 31 minerals it considers critical for their use in modern technology, from wind turbines and electric grids to advanced weapons and electric vehicles.Under the Investment Canada Act, the government can approve or reject mergers and acquisitions based on their net benefit to Canadians and the Canadian economy.Champagne says a high bar will now be set when assessing the benefits of a deal involving critical minerals producers.“Henceforth, such transactions will only be found of net benefit in the most exceptional of circumstances,” he says.“This high bar is reflective of the strategic importance of Canada’s critical minerals sector and how important it is that we take decisive action to protect it.

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”This has to eventually be a positive for Wildcat once their cards are on the table … namely resource size/metallurgy etc … and that wretched lithium commodity price is much higher

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