Canada’s province-backed miner vows to compete with China in rare earths, by Reuters

By Divya Rajagopal

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s Saskatchewan province has vowed to compete with China in processing and producing rare earths and become North America’s first commercial alternative source for the metals, used to make magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines.

The Saskatchewan Research Council’s rare earth processing facility is betting on demand for these magnets to grow over the next two years, driven by demand from original equipment manufacturers such as automakers.

Home to potash and uranium mines, the Canadian province is known for its mining prowess.

China controls 95% of the global production and supply of rare earth metals. The near-monopoly allows the country to dictate prices and create uncertainty for end users through export controls.

Over the past year, China has imposed export controls on critical metals such as germanium, gallium and antimony, forcing Western governments to seek alternatives.

SRC’s rare earth processing facility has started commercial scale production and expects to reach a production target of 40 tonnes of rare earth metals per month by the end of this year. And it will produce 400 tons of NdPr metals per year, which is enough to produce 500,000 electric vehicles, according to SRC. The facility already had relationships with potential customers in South Korea, Japan and the United States.

“Our goal is to remain competitive within the Asian metal price index,” said Muhammad Imran, Vice President of SRC Rare Earth Element. “We are constantly looking to optimize our facility using artificial intelligence applications that would keep our process efficient,” said Imran.

The price of rare earth metals such as neodymium praseodymium, known as NdPr, fluctuates between $65,000 and $75,000 per ton, a price set by the Chinese government.

However, some miners have demanded a premium price for metals produced outside China, arguing that Chinese metals are produced with low environmental, social and governance standards.

Regardless, Imran said, the market will remain competitive and producers must be prepared to meet the Asian metals index benchmark.

“This is what the market tells you the price of rare earths is, if someone can get a better deal, that’s great, but premium or no premium, the market is going to be competitive,” he said.