Saskatoon is home to North America’s first and only facility producing rare earth metals at a commercial scale, with in-house technology developed by the Saskatchewan Research Council. CEO of the SRC, Mike Crabtree, states that the processing facility is expected to be fully operational early next year (2025), producing about 400 tonnes of rare earth metal used for magnets which help to power electric motors, wind turbines and electric vehicles, to convert electrical energy into motion.
The goal of this project is to establish a vertically integrated supply chain in Saskatchewan, to be an industry model for future Rare Earth Element resource expansion. Crabtree says, “What we’re looking to do is expand the sector here in Saskatchewan and in Canada as a whole, creating these very, very high value, high trained jobs, that are augmented by artificial intelligence which allows us to remain and be competitive.” Vertically integrated means the processing, the solvent extraction and metal smelting are done at the facility, rather than shipping them elsewhere to convert the elements into a metal before going to market. Right now, only China has the ability to do this.
The rare earth facility in Saskatoon uses A.I. to regulate the furnace used in the process, which is something China doesn’t have.
Crabtree says, “In terms of vertical integration for rare earths, it’s really only done in China, so this is one of the very, very few vertically integrated minerals to metals plants outside of China.”
The Vice-President of SRC’s Rare Earth Element Division, Dr. Muhammad Imran, states that the staff is diverse with a variety of fields of expertise needed. They have chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineers, and in the trades, they have millwrights, electricians and pipefitters, and there are scientists on site. The facility is also in talks with local colleges to equip students with the skills needed in rare earth processing.
He notes that no one has done this before in the country, so they are looking into the curriculums of colleges, so there will be trained staff who can be employed in the rare earths field in the future, as the industry grows. SRC is Canada’s second-largest research and technology organization, providing services and products to its 1,400 clients in 22 countries around the world for more than 77 years.
