Tag Archives: rare earth element

Saskatchewan to create Canada’s first rare earth processing facility at SRC

The Government of Saskatchewan has announced C$31 million ($23 million) in funding for a rare earth processing facility in the province, delivering, it says, on a key element of its 2030 Growth Plan.

The facility will be owned and operated by the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC). It will be the first-of-its-kind in Canada and will begin to establish a rare earth element (REE) supply chain in Saskatchewan, forming an industry model for future commercial REE resource expansion in the province, the government says.

Global demand for REEs will increase significantly in the coming decade as demand for electric vehicles, renewable power generation and all forms of electronics increases, it added.

“Saskatchewan’s new rare earth processing facility will be a catalyst to stimulate the resource sector in Saskatchewan and across Canada, providing the early-stage supply chain needed to generate cash flow, investment and industrial growth of the sector,” Saskatchewan Premier, Scott Moe, said. “It will also help ensure the competitiveness of Saskatchewan as we focus on our economic recovery and grow our province over the next decade.”

Minister responsible for the SRC, Jeremy Harrison, said: “Saskatchewan has a globally recognised mining industry, workforce and culture with local companies already beginning to explore REE deposits both in Saskatchewan, and in surrounding provinces and territories. This facility will allow the REE industry to grow and create both immediate and long-term jobs.”

The conversion of REE ore to individual REE products is carried out in two main stages. The first is the concentration of ore to mixed REE carbonate. The second is the more complex separation stage that converts the mixed REE carbonate to commercial pure-grade REEs. The facility will address both stages of REE processing, according to the government.

The facility will be able to process both main hard rock ores (bastnaesite and monazite) and in the future, will also be capable of processing uranium raffinate concentrate, a rich source of REE from Saskatchewan’s uranium industry.

The facility is expected to be fully operational in late 2022 with construction beginning this autumn.

SRC is Canada’s second largest research and technology organisation. With more than 290 employees, C$91 million in annual revenue and nearly 75 years of experience, SRC provides services and products to its 1,500 clients in 27 countries around the world, it says.

Stantec sizing up sites for Medallion’s US rare earth element extraction plant

Medallion Resources says it has engaged international engineering group Stantec to evaluate sites in the US for its planned rare earth element (REE) extraction plant.

The plant, which will use feedstock sourced from the southeast US, will leverage Medallion’s proprietary hydrometallurgical process to extract a REE concentrate from by-product monazite sand in a clean, safe, and automated fashion.

Medallion, after many years of test work and development, recently completed the design of this process.

Key features of the enhanced “caustic crack” REE extraction process include:

  • Full automation for low manpower requirements and worker isolation from harsh operating environments (chemical, thermal and radiological) for enhanced safety;
  • Highly-energy efficient design;
  • Option for a zero liquid discharge plant to provide additional flexibility on planning/permitting;
  • Waste production options; and
  • Employment of only “off-the-shelf” equipment — with innovations on their application.

The process design was led by Medallion’s Metallurgist Kurt Forrester, with the developmental test work performed at the Saskatchewan Research Council’s Mineral and Metallurgy Division, in addition to using input from thermodynamic model analysis and solubility testing development at the University of Toronto’s Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry Department. The test monazite feedstock was provided by a heavy-mineral sands (HMS) producer in the southeast US.

The plant’s output will be rich in  and praseodymium (or NdPr), the critical input to the rare-earth permanent magnets that power the lightweight and powerful motors required in electric vehicles (EVs), defence applications, and numerous clean technologies, according to the company.

Don Lay, President & CEO of Medallion, said: “Based on recent announcements from the US Department of Defense on funding programs for rare-earth separation and magnet stockpiling as well as automakers’ desires for non-Chinese sources of NdPr, we’re taking this important step toward production.”

The proposed US-based REE plant has a small footprint and capital costs that are a fraction of the traditional REE mining and processing facilities, according to Medallion. “This provides a quick pathway to production of rare-earth products for domestic markets,” the company said.

The company said its plant location will be a “modern chemical processing setting with top-tier environmental standards and employ highly trained technicians”. The evaluation also covers both upstream and downstream logistics options related to the transport of monazite feedstock, reagents, produced concentrates and waste material.

Medallion plans to extract REEs from monazite tailing streams, which are a by-product of the HMS industry, with sources in the US, South America, Africa, Australia, and Southeast Asia.

“Medallion has established relationships with many HMS firms to coordinate upgrading potential, volumes and timing of available material,” it said.