Rare earth: Vital Metals becomes Canada’s leading producer

Vital Metals Limited has begun production of rare earth at its Nechalacho project in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The company is now the first rare earth producer in Canada and the second in North America, in addition to California’s Mountain Pass mine.

CEO Geoff Atkins reported, “We will continue to increase ore crushing and sorting with full production rates expected to be achieved in July. The beneficiated material will be stockpiled for transportation to our mining facility in Saskatoon.”

According to the company, Nechalacho, located 100km southeast of Yellowknife, hosts a world-class resource of 94.7Mt at 1.46% REO (measured, indicated and inferred). The North Nechalacho T-zone hosts a high grade resource of 101,000 tons at 9.01% LREO (2.2% NdPr).

A report from the Standing Committee on Natural Resources submitted to the House of Commons last week rang alarm bells about how important it is for Canada to secure a supply of critical minerals, particularly in the face of China’s dominance.

Currently, the Asian giant owns as much as 80 percent of global rare earth processing capacity, as it has invested for decades in acquiring strategic mineral resources around the world, and – according to data compiled by the committee – is likely to hold about 67 percent of global capacity to build lithium-ion batteries by 2030.