London – Canada is well positioned to be a leader in the responsible, inclusive and sustainable production of critical minerals. These minerals play a key role in powering the green and digital economy, and demand for them is projected to increase significantly. That is why Canada is seizing this opportunity by making smart investments in critical minerals value chains to support the development and deployment of clean energy and technology.
Today, during the Canada-UK Industrial Decarbonization Forum, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, joined by Mike Crabtree, President and CEO of the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), announced an investment of $4,990,000 to SRC through the Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration (CMRDD) program.
With this funding, SRC will develop an advanced and innovative process to separate rare earth elements (REE). These are alloys that are essential for clean energy sources and technologies such as wind turbines and electric vehicles. This will help increase the supply of metals that are needed for the development of a domestic electric vehicle value chain. This process will produce enough material to help build over half a million electric vehicle motors annually. Further, once the project is complete, Canada will be able to produce these critical minerals at commercial scale — a Canadian first for rare earth element processing.
Instead of shipping Canada’s concentrates overseas for foreign separation, this project will support Canada’s direct participation in the growing market for rare earth elements.
Canada is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building a cleaner and more prosperous economy. Increasing availability of electric vehicles for Canadians will help Canada reach this goal. Creating domestic processing streams and developing expertise in the critical minerals sector will build more competitive value chains to develop domestic processing and manufacturing and ensure investment and economic growth in communities across Canada.
“Critical minerals like the rare earth elements that will be produced through SRC’s innovative new separation process are integral parts of the electric vehicle value chain. Demand for these resources is going to grow exponentially as we build up a low-carbon economy. That is why we are taking action to build resilient and secure supply chains that provide the materials we, and nations around the world, need, right here in Canada. Investments like this one are advancing our ambitious goals while also creating good jobs and building a prosperous and sustainable low-carbon economy.” – Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources