The Nechalacho Project Canada was started in the year 2021 by Vital Metals in the Northwest Territories of the country. With this project, Vital Metals can become the second producer of rare earth deposits regions in North America and Canada.
The company has already started mining ore from the Northwest Territories starting pit in the month of June. The mined ore is crushed and sorted on-site. And the beneficiated material obtained from these ores will then be transferred to the company’s rare earth extraction plant in Saskatoon.
Resources available in Nechalacho
Nechalacho has a world-class resource of 94.7 million tonnes with an REO of 1.46 percent. Additionally, as much as 101,000 tonnes of rare earth at 9.01 percent LREO is present in the Northwest Territories of Nechalacho, one of the highest quantities of the world’s highest-grade consists of rare earth deposits.
Plan of Action for Nechalacho Project Canada
Nechalacho will be developed in two stages, according to Vital’s strategy. Stage 1 of the activities will concentrate on the North T Zone resource, while Stage 2 will focus on the much bigger Tardiff deposit. Stage 1 will begin by mining a small open pit in the North T Zone. After mining, the material will be transferred to Vital’s ore sorter present on-site.
The product obtained on-site will then be sent for further processing at Saskatoon in Vital’s rare-earth extraction plant. An off-take deal has been signed with Norway’s REEtac to facilitate production in Stage 1. According to the deal Vital, will receive a supply of 1,000 tonnes REO from REEtac to produce a minimum of 5,000 tonnes of contained REO by 2025.
Preparations have already begun for Stage 2 of the Nechalacho Project Canada to develop the larger Tardiff deposit. The drilling being carried out for this purpose will help Nechalacho develop into a rare-earths deposits project with a longer life at a larger scale. Both the stages’ successful execution will make Vital the largest independent supplier of clean mixed rare earth deposits feedstock located outside China.
Cheetah Resources will control and direct Det’on Cho Nahanni Construction’s mining and crushing operations throughout a single campaign from March to September 2021. Mined ore will be stored for ore sorting operations, which people will carry out over the summers of 2021-2023. In 2024, a second mining campaign is expected to be necessary to replace stockpiles.
Conclusion
So, the Nechalacho Project Canada is an ambitious project by Vital Metals, which is set to start production and mining from the Northwest Territories of Canada by the second quarter of 2021.
With the execution of Stage 2 of the project was already in motion since the beginning of February 2021, the drilling operations will soon be completed in the larger Tardiff Zone. Vital Metals seeks to produce close to 5,000 tonnes of contained rare earth oxides by the end of 2025 from the project.