Vital Metals says it's pivoting to focus on getting Nechalacho's main deposit of rare earth metals ready for production in the N.W.T., now that the rare earth processing facility it's building in Saskatoon has been delayed.
Dignitaries, politicians and Indigenous groups from the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and Norway will be in Saskatoon Tuesday for the unveiling of a $20-million rare earth processing plant.
Rare earth elements are becoming increasingly important in the switch to clean energy, but mining them brings its own environmental footprint. So how do we balance the need for mining the minerals with environmental risks associated with the operations? And where does climate change fit in?