Sydney-based Australia's Vital Metals has officially launched the mining operations of the Nechalacho rare earths project in Northwest Canada, which makes Vital Metals the first Canadian producer of rare earth elements for electric vehicles, aerospace, defence and electronics, and will be the second rare earth miner in North America. The company's goal is to develop the world's highest-grade rare earth deposit and the only rare earth project that can be processed only through ore separation.
The Nechalacho project is a high-grade light rare earth (fluorocarbon cerite) project, and Nechalacho, located in northwest Canada, is likely to start mining from a high-grade, easily accessible near-surface mineralization area. The Nechalacho rare earth project is located in the above area, and the measured, indicated and inferred JORC (Australian Joint Committee on Minerals and reserves Standard) resource is 94 Mt, TREO (total rare earth oxide content of 1.46%. The company plans to build rare earth mines in two stages, first focusing on resources in North T area. In the second phase, the company will target the larger Tardif deposit. North T will be mined as a small open-pit mine and the material will be transported to the company's on-site ore sorter, where the product will be sent to a rare earth refinery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for further processing. Vital aims to produce at least 5000 tons of rare earth oxides by 2025.
As early as February, Vital Metals announced that it had signed a contract with Canada to mine rare earths. In addition, in early March, privately held American rare earths companies invested in SearchMinerals's rare earths project in Newfoundland, eastern Canada. Although American rare earths companies have taken control of a rare earth mine in Texas, executives say they want more minerals used to make electronics and weapons.
