In the News May 20

Mining in Northwest Territories

Nechalacho Critical Mineral Deposits in Northwest Territories

Location map of Nechalacho and Nico critical mineral deposits in the NWT, shown by 2 black rectangles.

Australia-based Vital Metals, through its ramped up production at its Nechalacho light rare earth elements (REE) mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT), has become North America’s second producer of the elements used in magnets for electric vehicles, aerospace, defence and electronics, after California’s Mountain Pass mine.

Around 100 km east of Yellowknife, Cheetah Resources, owned by Vital Metals, has begun mining small amounts of REEs from its Nechalacho project. It is believed to be the first project in the country contracted out to an Indigenous business to operate a mine in its own territory.

The Nechalacho REE property, located at Thor Lake, NWT, is a rich polymetallic rare metals resource with potential for REEs economic recovery such as neodymium and praseodymium, as well as lithium, zirconium, beryllium and niobium.

The REE product is to travel by barge to Hay River over the summer and in winter by ice roads once the freeze-up is in place. Hay River is a nearby port with an existing barging terminal and railhead accessible year round by an all-season highway. From there it will go to Saskatoon to be handled by the Saskatchewan Research Council. A multi-million dollar processing facility is being built there, with Saskatchewan and federal financing, which will refine the REE material, then ship it to Norway and the U.S. for fine separation of REEs and sale.

TML Daily, posted May 20, 2022.