While Canadian companies struggle to attract investment in the critical minerals industry due to government regulations, the Northwest Territories are making headway through Indigenous involvement in Canada’s first rare earth minerals mine.
Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Caroline Wawzonek highlighted the Nechalacho rare earth mining development and the Inuvialuit Energy Security Project natural gas well at the 21st annual Arctic Energy & Resource Symposium in Calgary this week.
“On the mineral resource side, the federal government has identified 31 minerals that it believes will position Canada as a leading supplier of critical minerals. Many of these minerals are present in the NWT,” said Wawzonek.
“The successful debut of the Nechelacho mine sets the stage for work on the larger multigenerational Tardiff deposit planned for 2024… It sends a signal that Canada is indeed a serious player in the international drive toward a sustainable, reliable, responsibly mined source of critical rare earth elements independent of China and also of Russia.”
The one-of-a-kind mine is currently operating. Last summer, it had already mined 5,000 tonnes of rare earths, which were then shipped to Saskatchewan for processing.
“The project features an agreement with Det’on Cho Nahanni Construction Corporation, owned by the Yellowknives Dene First Nation to provide mining services. It is the first project in the country in which an Indigenous group has been contracted to extract minerals in its own territory,” said Wawzonek. “Seventy per cent of the Nechalacho workforce last summer was Indigenous, and 85 per cent were NWT residents.”
As reported by True North, leaders in Canada’ critical mineral industry have blasted the Liberal government for “changing goal posts” when it comes to emission standards that are standing in the way of making the country a leader in the development of green technology.
Earlier this week the federal government revealed its 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan which called for a 42% emission cut in the oil and gas sector by 2030. Critics have called the goal unachievable and a fantasy.
Wawzonek also spoke about the Inuvialuit natural gas project currently being implemented by the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corporation.
“The project is set to tap the M-18 natural gas well that exists in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region near the Arctic coast; and to build a plant that will convert the gas into Liquefied Natural Gas, or LNG, and synthetic diesel for distribution by road to homes and businesses in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk,” explained Wawzonek.
