Canada invest in critical minerals

A $4,990,000 investment into the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) has been announced by Canada.

It was announced during the Canada-UK Industrial Decarbonisation Forum that the SRC will develop a process to separate rare earth elements (REE) to help increase the supply of battery metals, as part of the Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration (CMRDD) programme.

Once completed the project will allow Canada to produce these critical minerals at commercial scale — reportedly a Canadian first for rare earth element processing.

The investment means the SRC will have the ability to produce around 20 tonnes per year of dysprosium (Dy) oxide and around five tonnes per year of terbium (Tb) oxide, which is enough to manufacture permanent magnets to build electric motors for nearly half a million electric vehicles.

The funding will be utilised to add Dy and Tb separation capability to SRC’s existing rare earth processing facility and will utilise the building, utilities and the equipment which recycles 100% of the processed water and chemicals. The feed to the Dy and Tb processing will be derived from SRC’s existing facility.

Dy is primarily used in the production of magnets, lighting and nuclear reactors. Tb is primarily used in the production of phosphors for fluorescent lamps and LEDs, magnets and optical devices like lasers and optical fibres.

Instead of shipping Canada’s concentrates overseas for foreign separation, this project will support Canada’s direct participation in the growing market for rare earth elements.

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources who announced the funding, said, ‘Critical minerals like the rare earth elements that will be produced through SRC’s innovative new separation process are integral parts of the electric vehicle value chain…Investments like this one are advancing our ambitious goals while also creating good jobs and building a prosperous and sustainable low-carbon economy.’

The Canada-UK Industrial Decarbonisation Forum is a half-day event that brought together leaders from Canada and the UK to discuss how governments and industry can work together to decarbonise the industrial sector.