In late 2018 Jean-Denis Caron sank most of his life savings into the shares of Nemaska Lithium, a Quebec City-based producer backed by Japan’s SoftBank that promised to “facilitate access to green energy, for the benefit of humanity”.
Last month, Nemaska filed for protection from its creditors, following a collapse in the price of lithium hydroxide, a key component in batteries for electric vehicles. The shares, down 93 per cent from the peak, have stopped trading and the company is set to be kicked off the Toronto exchange.
Mr Caron, a 36-year-old software engineer, said he was completely “sold” on the idea of the company using the region’s abundant hydropower to mine and produce lithium for EV batteries, undercutting rivals around the world and providing an alternative to a supply chain dominated by China. “For me it was a no-brainer that it was going to work,” he said.