Canada invests $16M in critical minerals research in Saskatchewan 

The federal government has earmarked more than $16 million in new funding to support the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) in Saskatoon, Sask.   

The announcement on Wednesday by natural resources minister Jonathan Wilkinson includes $15.9 million through PrairiesCan to enable SRC to acquire bastnaesite (a type of ore containing rare earth elements) from Canadian sources and create new domestic capacity for bastnaesite processing. That would be integrated into the SRC’s Rare Earth Processing Facility.  

“Our government is investing in the economic opportunities presented by our critical minerals wealth, ensuring that Canadians will benefit from the mining, processing and sale of rare earth elements and other critical minerals through the creation of good jobs, expansion of the mining sector, and prospects for future innovations and reduced emissions,” Wilkinson said in a news release.  

The funding builds on earlier support of nearly $13.5 million from PrairiesCan and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) for the SRC to establish its processing plant and develop new rare earth mineral processing technologies.     

The SRC will process bastnaesite ore acquired from Vital Metals‘ (ASX: VML) Nechalacho operations in the Northwest Territories to produce a mixed rare earth product, to be further processed using SRC’s solvent extraction and metal smelting technology to produce rare earth metals. SRC will also collaborate with a local educational institution to develop and deliver a training program for Indigenous students to operate bastnaesite processing equipment.  

The investment of $209,330 from NRCan, under the Critical Minerals Geoscience Data (CMGD) Initiative will help SRC create a publicly available database of mineral characteristics, which will expand the understanding of critical mineral deposits in Canada and reduce mining waste. The new data will help make better predictions about the types of deposits that can be identified by sensor-based sorting, reducing the costs of developing critical mineral deposits into mines and the associated energy consumption and waste. 

The funding comes almost two months after NRCan diverted $3 million of stockpiled rare earths mined at Nechalacho from Chinese firm Shenghe Resources to the SRC, as Canada aims to keep its critical minerals out of China’s hands. The sale, brokered by NRCan, replaces a sale last December of A$2.6 million ($2.3 million) worth of stockpiled rare earths from Vital to Shenghe. 

Bastnaesite’s huge potential

The Canadian government has identified 34 critical minerals, and 27 of those can be found in Saskatchewan. The rare earth metals, used in electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines, electronics, and magnets, produced from SRC’s recent purchase of bastnaesite alone could be used to power 62,500 EVs.   

The demand for critical minerals to power the green energy transition is expected to double by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency. Since 2020, the SRC has taken the lead in processing and commercializing value-added products using rare earth elements through the development of its Saskatoon facility, the first of its kind in Canada. 

Jeremy Harrison, Saskatchewan’s minister responsible for the SRC, said this investment will further advance the province’s role on the global stage as a reliable supplier of safe and sustainable rare earths that the world needs for energy production.  

“The acquisition of bastnaesite from the Northwest Territories secures the necessary resources for SRC’s Rare Earth Processing Facility to produce additional rare earth metals,” Harrsion said. “This will help ensure critical mineral security for Canada’s allies and partners while preventing these strategic critical minerals from being sent to overseas jurisdictions that threaten our national security.”