Canadian officials announced more than C$16 million to support the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC). The funding will be used to expand the Rare Earth Processing Facility to process a wider range of rare earth minerals and to create a new database.
“Investing in regional strengths like mining, exploration, and mineral processing helps us build a solid path to a strong sustainable future for all Canadians,” Federal Minister Responsible for PrairiesCan Dan Vandal said.
“Saskatchewan Research Council’s Rare Earth Processing Facility plays an important role in our government’s plan to establish a domestic rare earth supply chain that grows our economy and creates good jobs for Canadians.”
The latest funding includes $15.96 million through PrairiesCan to enable SRC to acquire bastnaesite ore from Vital Metals’ Canadian operations and create new domestic capacity for bastnaesite processing, which will be integrated into SRC’s Rare Earth Processing Facility. SRC will also collaborate with a local educational institution to develop and deliver a training program for Indigenous students to operate bastnaesite processing equipment.
NRCan’s $209,330 investment is to help SRC create a publicly available database of mineral characteristics. The government said that this data will assist in making better predictions about the types of deposits that can be identified by sensor-based sorting. This will reduce the costs associated with developing deposits into mines, as well as the energy consumption and waste linked with these mines.
Source: Government of Saskatchewan