Feds commit $16M for Sask. Research Council’s critical minerals work

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The federal government has announced a major financial commitment to support a rare earth processing facility in Saskatchewan.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson on Wednesday said the government is investing $16 million to help the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) acquire bastnaesite from suppliers in Canada. Bastnaesite is an important component in the manufacturing of electric vehicles, wind turbines and a range of other items.

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Wilkinson said critical rare earth minerals are important in the global energy transition as countries around the world seek lower-emitting sources of energy. The energy transition, which is necessary in order to maintain a stable climate in the future, makes for some major economic opportunities, he said.

“It is also an economic opportunity on the scale of the industrial revolution,” he said during a press conference Wednesday at the SRC’s offices in Saskatoon.

Along with rare earth minerals, Wilkinson said the federal government is working to support other initiatives such as clean electricity, biofuels and carbon capture technologies. Given Canada’s geographic size, low-carbon industries will look different depending on the region, he added.

“The opportunities of a low-carbon future in British Columbia are different than those that exist in Saskatchewan and they are different than those that exist in Nova Scotia,” he said.

Wilkinson said the federal government’s motivation to support the development of rare earth minerals is rooted in geopolitical and foreign policy concerns as well. He said China has emerged as a major player in the sector, which has created concern nationally and among allies, including the G7 nations.

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“Countries like China have been moving very strategically on this,” he said.

Speaking to the media, Wilkinson said it’s very important to have the capacity to process critical minerals domestically rather than depending on a foreign country with which Canada might not have the best relationship. He said a good example of this can be seen in how Germany depended on Russian natural gas, which became an issue after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Critical minerals are the natural gas of the future,” he said.

The world is moving toward a more multi-polar reality with many centres of power, which has weakened the old rules-based order, Wilkinson said. Investing in critical minerals processing could be seen as a form of protectionism, but it makes sense given the way the world is changing, he added.

“It’s actually being realistic,” he said.

Jeremy Harrison, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Trade and Export Development, said support for critical minerals is an area where the provincial and federal governments can work together.

“Thank you to the Government of Canada, who have been a genuinely great partner in this project,” he said.

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The SRC facility is a leader in North America in this kind of rare earth mineral development, Harrison said. China’s dominance in the industry raises larger issues for many, he added.

“We need to have a secure source and supply chain for critical minerals,” he said.

Given the realities of the global rare earth minerals market, it’s necessary for governments to step in and take an active role since China in the past has used its dominance in the market to bring prices down and make projects not economically viable, Harrison said.

“If government did not do this midstream piece, it wouldn’t happen,” he said.

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