The Canadian government has announced a significant investment of over $16 million to support the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) in advancing critical minerals processing and research.
This funding aims to bolster Canada’s position in the rapidly growing clean energy economy, with a focus on rare earth elements crucial for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other high-tech applications.
The investment includes $15.96 million from PrairiesCan to enable SRC to acquire and process bastnaesite, a rare earth mineral, from Canadian sources.
This will create new domestic capacity for bastnaesite processing at SRC’s Rare Earth Processing Facility in Saskatoon, the first of its kind in Canada.
SRC will process bastnaesite ore acquired from Vital Metals Ltd.’s Canadian operations to produce a mixed rare earth product, which will be further refined into rare earth metals using SRC’s advanced technologies.
An additional $209,330 from Natural Resources Canada will support SRC in creating a publicly available database of mineral characteristics.
This initiative, part of the Critical Minerals Geoscience Data Initiative, aims to expand understanding of critical mineral deposits in Canada and reduce mining waste.
The investment aligns with Canada’s goal to become a critical minerals supplier of choice for democratic nations, creating jobs and economic opportunities.
Federal Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson emphasised the importance of this investment in ensuring Canadians benefit from the mining, processing, and sale of rare earth elements and other critical minerals.
As part of the initiative, SRC will collaborate with a local educational institution to develop and deliver a training program for Indigenous students to operate bastnaesite processing equipment.
Saskatchewan is home to 27 of the 34 critical minerals identified by the Canadian government.
The country boasts some of the largest known reserves of rare earths, estimated at over 14 million tonnes in 2021.
In 2024, Canada surpassed China to become the country with the most potential to build a secure, reliable, and sustainable electric vehicle supply chain.
This investment represents a significant step in Canada’s efforts to establish a domestic rare earth supply chain and capitalise on the growing demand for critical minerals in the clean energy sector.
