The state export credit agency offers support for the development of the Wicheeda mine.
Canadian mining company Defense Metals is moving forward with plans to extract rare earth elements at its Wicheeda deposit, located in British Columbia, the country’s westernmost province. To support the project, Export Development Canada (EDC), the national export credit agency, has now offered up to $250 million in financing. Defense Metals had previously expressed interest in this kind of support, according to a statement (PDF). In March, the company had already received a grant of over $600,000 from Natural Resources Canada, the federal ministry responsible for natural resources. That funding was intended to help expand infrastructure at the site (PDF).
So far, Canada is home to just one active rare earth mine: Nechalacho, operated by Australia-based Vital Metals. That makes Wicheeda a key player in Canada’s ambition to become a leading producer of critical minerals needed for the energy transition, while also offering Western nations an alternative to industry giant China. To achieve this goal, the Canadian government developed a national strategy (PDF) that includes investments in infrastructure, research, and the entire rare earth value chain from extraction to processing. The latter, in particular, remains heavily dominated by China.
Extraction and Processing: Canada’s Emerging Rare Earth Value Chain
One of the most talked-about developments in this space recently came from the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), a government-backed Canadian research organization, which announced in September the first-ever production of rare earth metals in North America (we reported). Just days later, the SRC announced a partnership with Defense Metals to process raw material from the Wicheeda site.
Last year, Defense Metals stated that its proposed open-pit mining project could eventually produce the equivalent of around 10% of the current global rare earth output (we reported). A target start date for operations has not been made public yet.
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