TORONTO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Canada will accelerate

mining projects worth C$6.4 billion ($4.6 billion), as part of

the Critical Minerals Production Alliance, Energy and Natural

Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said on Friday. The announcement

came at the end of the two-day Group of Seven meeting of energy

and environment ministers in Toronto.

Hodgson said that Canada and its G7 partners will mobilize

public and private capital to fast-track graphite, rare earth

elements, and scandium production. As part of this alliance,

Canada said it has signed an offtake agreement for scandium and

graphite with Australian miner Rio Tinto, and Quebec-based

Nouveau Monde Graphite ( NMG ). An offtake agreement is a deal where a

buyer agrees to purchase a producer's output in the future for a

predetermined price.

Earlier this week, in an interview with Reuters, Hodgson said

that Canada intended to be a leader in securing supply chains

for all of its key allies, to reduce reliance on China. Canada

produces several critical metals such as nickel, copper, and

cobalt.

G7 countries, except Japan, are heavily or exclusively

reliant on China for a range of materials from rare earth

magnets to battery metals.

(Divya Rajagopal in Toronto; Editing by Caroline Stauffer )