Canada’s Nechalacho Mine Starts Shipping Rare Earth Ore

Canada has begun supplying the world with minerals critical to a greener economy with Nechalacho mine shipping concentrated rare earth ore. David Connelly of Cheetah Resources said, "We own the Nechalacho mine southwest of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and Canada and its allies are gaining independence from China's rare earth supply chain."

Rare earths are a series of synonymous elements, such as ytterbium, lanthanum, and gadolinium. They are essential for computers, LED displays, wind turbines, electric cars, and many other products that are vital to a low-carbon world.

Some industry analysts predict that the rare earths market will grow from $6.8 billion in 2021 to more than $12 billion in 2026. Almost 60 percent of the world's supply of these important materials is produced in China, and most of the rest is owned by Chinese companies. Until now.

Connelly said, "Nechalacho has 15 different rare earth elements and was discovered in 1983. More than a decade ago, regulators received a proposal to develop the mine." The project involves significant water use and will create large tailings ponds. environmental regulators in the N.W.T. approved the plan, but noted the need to mitigate its environmental impact."

"The new mine will not use water; instead, the raw ore is crushed into gravel-sized pieces and then passed through a sensor." Connelly says, "It's a large X-ray machine mounted on a conveyor belt that separates the white quartz from the heavier, denser rare earth ore."

The concentrate is then transported down Great Slave Lake to Hay River, N.W.T. From there, the railroad transports the concentrate to Saskatoon, where Vital Metals, the company that owns Cheetah, has built a facility to refine the concentrate, and this is where the provincial government is developing a rare earth refining and research center, with its first shipment in transit.

The refined product from Nechalacho will be shipped to a customer in Norway, where the individual minerals will be separated from each other and processed into metal bars. and processed into metal rods.

Connelly said, "By 2025, Nechalacho Mine hopes to be producing 25,000 tons of concentrate per year, which will be enough ore for decades to come." The federal government says Canada currently has 13 active rare earth projects, mostly in Saskatchewan and Quebec, where the only mine that is close to production - the Kipawa project - is located. A Natural Resources document says, " Canada has some of the largest known reserves and resources (measured and indicated) of rare earths in the world."

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