Canada's first rare earth miner starts mining

Sydney-based Australian Vital Metals has officially started mining operations at its Nechalacho rare earth project in Canada's Northwest Territories, which makes it the first Canadian producer to mine rare earth elements used in electric vehicles, aerospace, defense and electronics, Mine.com said.It would also be the second North American rare earth miner.The company's goal is to develop one of the highest grade rare earth deposits in the world and the only rare earth project that can be beneficiated through ore separation alone.

The Nechalacho Project is a high-grade light rare earth (fluorocerium) project located in Nechalacho in Canada's Northwest Territories that has the potential to begin mining from high-grade, easily accessible near-surface mineralized areas.The Nechalacho Rare Earth Project, located in the above area, measured, indicated and inferred a JORC(Australian Joint Commission on Mineral Reserves Standard) resource of 94 mT and a TREO(Total Rare Earth Oxides) content of 1.46%.The company plans to build the mine in two phases, focusing first on the North T site.In the second phase, the company will target the larger Tardiv deposit.The North T site will be mined as a small open pit mine, and the material will be transported to the company's onsite ore sorting machine. The product will then be transported to a rare earth refinery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for further processing.Vital aims to produce at least 5,000 tons of rare earth oxides by 2025.

Back in February, Vital Metals announced it had signed a contract with Canada to mine rare earths.Separately, in early March, privately held U.S. Rare Earths Corp. invested in SearchMinerals Inc. 's rare earths project in Newfoundland, eastern Canada.While American rare earth companies already control a mine in Texas, executives say they want more minerals for electronics and weapons.