Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Saskatoon this morning to tour the rare earths element processing plant.

Vital Metals is Canada’s first rare earths miner and producer, and shares support services with the Saskatchewan Research Council for its project. Vital Minerals and SRC are neighbours in Saskatoon’s north end, with both building their own rare earth processing facilities. SRC will provide support to the Vital plant on a contract basis, in areas such as specialized crushing, analysis and quality control. Both plants will create about 100 jobs.

In August 2022 the first metal ingots ever produced in Canada came from the Saskatchewan Research Council’s Rare Earth Processing Facility. The provincial government has said there are only four facilities worldwide, and 90 per cent of the supply at this point comes from China. The magnet metals are used in things like electric vehicles, cell phones, LED lights, and wind turbines. Each bar, which is about the size of a gold bar, is estimated to be worth about $500 to $600.

Last June, the province added $20 million in funding to the new facility so it could expand its capabilities to include a metals smelting unit, which will produce the ingots.  The fully integrated, three-stage Rare Earth Processing Facility will be the first of its kind in North America and will be producing products for sale in the international market in 2024.

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark will also be in attendance.