Summit promoting new rare earths industry held in Saskatoon

Greener energy supply, ongoing Indigenous engagement identified as areas of focus to support development of North American processing hub.

Author of the article:

Bryn Levy

Publishing date:

Sep 20, 2022 • 46 minutes ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation

David Connelly, Vice-President of strategy and corporate affairs at Vital Metals, speaks at the Rare Earth Summit in Saskatoon on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. PHOTO BY MATT SMITH /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

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The world is noticing efforts to place Saskatoon at the heart of a new North American rare earth minerals industry, judging by some of the delegations who came to a summit held Tuesday in Saskatoon.

Representatives from as far afield as India and Australia mingled at a downtown hotel for a breakfast discussion panel; speakers representing Germany and Norway also took part in the day’s events.

The interest perhaps shouldn’t be a surprise. With applications in almost all high technology products, including electric vehicles and wind turbines, rare earth elements represent a massive opportunity for the mining sector, said Saskatchewan Mining Association president Pam Schwann.

“There’s a lot of excitement because there’s a lot of potential and there’s a lot of need, so there’s demand. The supply side is the question,” she said.

The summit was hosted by the Saskatchewan Research Council and Vital Metals Inc., two firms looking to answer that supply question with new, multimillion-dollar rare earths processing facilities in Saskatoon, both of which are the first of their kind to be built in North America.

This all comes amid high-level strategic planning by Western governments seeking to wean their countries off dependence on China, which currently controls more than 80 per cent of the rare earths market.

While the summit was a celebration of what’s already been achieved here, many in attendance noted there’s still work to do to solidify Saskatchewan’s position and sustain the momentum.

David Connelly, Vital’s vice-president of strategy and corporate affairs, said the province’s coal-fired electricity remains a potential challenge to attracting green-minded investors and customers.

With major car companies and parts makers among the firms committing to make their supply chains entirely carbon neutral, Connelly said there’s limited time for Saskatchewan to transform its power grid.

“It’s a challenge. It has to be a believable plan that can be accomplished in the medium term. And whether that is purchasing hydroelectric power from a nearby jurisdiction, or whether it’s working with Indigenous groups and the federal government to create large solar and wind farms that can then provide new, green power to Saskatchewan’s rare earth industry, those are two possible solutions,” he said.

The themes of Indigenous engagement and reconciliation ran through most of the day’s events.

Connelly noted Canada’s minable deposits of rare earths are largely situated on Indigenous lands. This includes Vital subsidiary Cheetah Resources, which owns a rare earths mine in the Northwest Territories on the traditional territory of the Yellowknives Dene, with the First Nation contracted to do the mining operations.

He said Vital is still in the early stages of engaging with Indigenous groups in Saskatoon, but the company will eventually commit to having a percentage of its processing workforce in Saskatchewan be Indigenous. He called it both a chance for the company to express its values, and a key part of doing business in the 21st century.

“The end-use buyers (of rare earths) want to be assured that they’re ethically sourced, that there’s a high level of corporate-social licence to operate and that there’s a significant environmental, social and governance component. And that means they expect that the people from whose lands the resources come, or where they are processed, get a chance to participate in the economic opportunities that stem from that. It’s just … it’s 2022,” he said.

John Desjarlais, general manager of Great Plains Contracting and president of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, said he firmly believes the province has the technical know-how to lead the world on rare earths.

With Indigenous people making up Saskatchewan’s fastest-growing and youngest demographic, he said industry and educational institutions have to attract more Indigenous candidates, or risk crippling labour shortages.

“Engaging that workforce, it’s not a social responsibility, we’re kind of past that now; it’s an economic imperative. We have to develop that talent to support our growth needs. It’s going to constrain growth, it’s going to constrain opportunity if we don’t.”