Thetford Mines, QC April 28, 2026 – Canada is now home to the world’s first surficial mineralization hub as Carbon Removal Canada, Frontier, and the DuGrisAuVert ecosystem announce the launch of the Quebec Surficial Mineralization Hub.

The hub will host research, development, and demonstration projects at a site where common barriers for surficial mineralization have already been addressed: permitted land, established community relationships, mine tailings as accessible feedstock, and shared equipment for processing, measurement, and monitoring. 

Successful applicants will receive prepurchases or R&D grants from Frontier, as part of its advance market commitment to buy $1 billion of permanent carbon removal between 2022 and 2030, to tackle the outstanding science questions critical to unlocking this pathway.

Thetford Mines, QC sits atop one of the largest carbon removal opportunities on the planet. For decades, the province’s 800 megatonnes of mine tailings have sat as an environmental liability. Surficial mineralization stands to change that: when carbon dioxide contacts minerals in these tailings, a permanent chemical reaction locks the carbon away and potentially neutralizes the tailings in the process. It is also one of the most promising low-cost pathways to carbon removal at-scale.

Commercial projects in this region could remove between 400 and 700 megatonnes of carbon, representing $60 to $175 billion in value, while also extracting critical minerals like nickel, magnesium, and cobalt.

“Thetford Mines has carried the weight of Canada’s industrial legacy for generations. Today, that same geology becomes the foundation for something the world has never seen. This hub will help prove that carbon removal is not a distant promise. Rather, it is happening now, in Canada, with the community behind it.”
– Na’im Merchant, Executive Director, Carbon Removal Canada

“Surficial mineralization could remove gigatons of CO₂, but we need more teams in the field to prove it—and right now, the upfront costs make it nearly impossible to get started. That’s why we’re launching a surficial mineralization hub in Thetford Mines, Canada: 10,000 tons of mine tailings, lab equipment, and a permitted site where early-stage companies can pressure-test whether this approach has legs.”
– Hannah Bebbington Valori, Head of Deployment, Frontier

The DuGrisAuVert ecosystem is proud to partner in the deployment of the world’s largest surficial mineralization hub. This milestone is made possible by the resilience of our community, the agility of our businesses, and the strength of the strategic assets that make up our ecosystem. What was once considered a mining liability is now becoming the foundation of a new environmental economy with the potential to generate billions of dollars in value in the years ahead.”

– Ludovic Beauregard, Circular Economy Commissioner for Société de développement économique de la région de Thetford, MRC des Appalaches and Lead for the DuGrisAuVert initiative

Carbon Removal Canada is an independent non-profit accelerating the responsible scale-up of carbon removal technologies through impactful policy advocacy grounded in rigorous research, shaping market development, and connecting the right people to the right information.

Frontier is an advance market commitment to buy an initial $1B+ of permanent carbon removal between 2022 and 2030. It was founded by Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, McKinsey and tens of thousands of businesses using Stripe Climate. Frontier’s goal is to accelerate the development of carbon removal technologies by guaranteeing future demand for them. 

DuGrisAuVert is a territorial ecosystem accelerating the transformation of former mining lands into a hub for circular economy innovation, critical minerals development, and carbon mineralization. By mobilizing the region’s strategic assets and fostering collaboration between industry, research institutions, and public partners, DuGrisAuVert coordinates projects, attracts investment, and supports the deployment of environmental and industrial solutions rooted in the region’s unique geology.