Canada's Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) and Perth-based Arafura Rare Earths have agreed to develop a framework for the toll processing of a samarium-europium-gadolinium/heavy rare earths (SEG/HRE) product from the latter's Nolans project at SRC's planned facility in Saskatchewan.
Under the agreement, the SRC will separate out dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb) oxide from the SEG/HRE product at the Saskatchewan facility, which is under development in Saskatoon and will be the first rare earths processing plant in Canada.
Once production starts at Nolans, Arafura plans to produce 573 t/yr of SEG/HRE oxide with contained Dy and Tb oxide of about 25t and 8t, respectively.
The agreement also includes a proposed objective for both parties to negotiate a long-term agreement for the sale and purchase of Arafura's neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide for SRC's metal smelting operations.
Building a Canadian rare earths processing hub
The SRC's rare earths processing facility has been in the pipeline for some time — once due to be built and operational in 2023-24 but then beset by delays.
If built, it would mark a major step forward in the development of a Canadian rare earths supply chain and provide an "industry model" for future rare earths resource expansion in the area, the SRC previously said.
Based on prior plans, the facility is to be built in two phases. The first, which includes a monazite processing unit, will process ore and produce a mixed rare earth product. The second phase includes a separation unit and a metals unit that will produce rare earth metals.
Last month, the Canadian government awarded more than $16mn in new funding to the SRC, building on a previous funding package of almost $13.5mn that came via the government's PrairiesCan and Natural Resources Canada departments. Most of the $16mn package will be used to enable the SRC to buy bastnaesite ore from Canadian sources — in particular Vital Metals — and create new domestic capacity for bastnaesite processing, which will be integrated into the Saskatchewan facility. The bastnaesite ore will be turned into a mixed rare earth product and then further processed using solvent extraction and metal smelting technology to produce rare earth metals.
The SRC has also been reaching out to Vietnam to establish feedstock supply channels. In April, it signed an agreement in principle with Hung Thinh Group (HTG), under which HTG will supply SRC with up to 3,000 t/yr of rare earth carbonate for five years beginning in June 2025. This would allow the SRC to process, separate and produce about 400 t/yr of rare earth metals at the Saskatchewan facility, it estimates.
