COMEX has put out their Annual Report for 2022-23 ... fkn...

COMEX has put out their Annual Report for 2022-23 ... fkn amazing ... the bludgers can sit for years on mining applications worth hundreds of millions of investment dollars to Quebec but somehow can rip out a reporting document in less than month (it was signed off on 28 July). Impressive priority setting!

One thing that stood out like bull's horns is that in the Chair's message it is stated that "On March 29, 2023, the COMEX members met with Marie-Josée Lizotte to discuss ways to improve efficiency in COMEX's operations". Ms Lizotte is the government Minister and administrator who COMEX reports to ie administratively at least, she's their boss, and it is surmisable that Ms Lizotte paid the committee a visit to tell them to pull their fingers out as not only are they embarrassing Quebec they are risking much of those investment dollars which will be diverted to Ontario or Brazil or anywhere else they are more likely to earn a return.

And what did the buffoons at COMEX take from the dressing down? This is part of their commentary:

"COMEX has taken several steps in recent years to improve understanding of the environmental and social impact assessment ... [one of which was that] In response to proponents' observations regarding delays in the project review process ... the COMEX members participated in... conventions and conferences to explain the environmental and social impact review process.Despite its efforts, COMEX notes that proponents still do not fully understand thereview process for northern projects. As a result, COMEX must repeatedly send questions and comments ... [and it is] ... not uncommon for proponents totake several months to respond toCOMEX's questions and comments." So COMEX is claiming that mining companies like Livent and Allkem which successfully operate in numerous other jurisdictions around the world are somehow struck clueless as soon as they try to navigate through the processes imposed by COMEX in Quebec. Yeah, righto, that's what it is, nothing to do with how fcked up the COMEX processes are.

Then they have the audacity to end with "The Review Committee pointed out that any significant delay in the project review process or the implementation of a project once it has been authorized is likely toresult in disappointment and somebitterness not only among the communities concerned, but also among the population in general." They take five years to process lithium mine applications and then have the chutzpah to gaslight the mining companies for p!ssing everyone off. I'm not sure if this is arrogance or stupidity on show from members of the Review Committee (but I do know I'd summarily sack anyone who wears matching bow-tie and shirt or wears a fluoro pink tie with a business vest so that would be two less idiot committee members to clog things up).

The minutes for the COMEX meeting of 27 July are also up on their website. The only change I could see for Allkem is that the Committee's list of things to do at some stage in the next couple of years from the June meeting was


while from the July meeting their list of things to do included:


After the 27 July meeting they held another one on 1 September so the minutes from that meeting should be out in the next few days and then there was another meeting on 4 October and another one is scheduled for 31 October. Surely, surely, the end of this torture must be near.

More seriously, I have to say that any recommendation by the Review Committee to effectively block the James Bay project - which they could do either with a straight-out knock-back, by imposing such onerous conditions as to make the project unviable or by never getting around to making a recommendation - would have seismic ramifications for Quebec's nascent lithium industry.